A is for Aria
by hiding.my.heart
Summary: What if Aria was A? And what if Ezra was her helper? What if they were the A-team?
1. Chapter 1

**So a lot of people have been speculating that Aria has something to do with A, and this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I think it would kind of romantic for Aria and Ezra to be the A team in a kind of psychotic way haha. In this story Mona wasn't A at all and later on you guys will find out why Ezria is A. (That is if you guys want me to continue this after reading.) And Ezra is still going to be working at Rosewood.**

**Anyways on to the chapter!**

Ezra paced back and forth in his apartment downing the last bit of amber fluid residing in his glass. Aria was half an hour late and Ezra was starting to worry that this time they really did go too far. He ran a hair through his messy black curls as he always did in a stressful situation. A click at his front door caused him to spin around, relief washing over him as Aria stepped through the threshold.

He wrapped her petite frame into a tight hug before pulling back to look at her. He slowly lifted her black hood off of her head letting her chestnut hair cascade down her shoulders. He leaned in for a kiss as he ran his hands through her silky tresses.

"Did you do it?" He mumbled against her lips.

Aria broke away from the embrace and shot him a smile as she nodded.

"Good… I thought something might have happened," Ezra confessed.

"Just a little hold up getting all those A's back in the cereal box," She laughed. Seeing Ezra's weary expression she rolled her eyes. "I'm always careful Ez. They have no clue."

"I know," he mumbled. "I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"Well you're not going to," Aria stated.

Aria unzipped her matching black jacket as well as discarding her gloves. She settled them in a pile next to Ezra's couch before grasping Ezra's hand. She pulled him silently toward his bed signaling she was exhausted.

"I told my parent's I was staying at Hanna's, so I can stay the night," she grinned.

Ezra smiled back as he shed his dress shirt and pants. Aria found one Ezra's old Hollis t-shirts and threw it on before sliding in between the cotton sheets of the bed. Ezra soon joined her after flicking off the lights and was immediately met with Aria's cuddling form. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and ran his fingertips down her am letting sleep take him over.

…

Aria glanced at the flashing red numbers that read 1:23. She still hadn't been able to fall asleep her mind continuing to race with thoughts. Internally groaning she rubbed her eyes desperately wanting to rest. She peeled Ezra's heavy arm off her torso trying her best not to wake him up. She padded across the apartment eventually settling on top of the window seat. She stared out into the town of Rosewood, the flashing lights of the city providing a sense of comfort knowing she wasn't the only one up. Aria brought her hand to the cool glass letting it fog as her warm breath hit it. It was times like these when the hustle and bustle of a regular day couldn't distract her from her thoughts. Every day she constantly debated over whether she was doing the right thing she always however came to the conclusion that she was. A tear trickled down her cheek but she hastily wiped it away, not wanting any doubts to crowd her head.

"Aria," Ezra whispered his voice thick with sleep.

Aria turned to Ezra who was standing behind her a worried look gracing his face.

"Baby," he cooed enclosing her body in his tight grip. He rubbed his hand up and down her back whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

"Am I doing the right thing?" she breathed as more tears trickled from her watery eyes.

"Yes," he said. A part of him knew what they were doing was absolutely crazy but the other part of him knew it was necessary for his girlfriend's sake.

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

"Spencer, can I speak to you in the hallway for a moment about your essay," Ezra asked as he stood in front of his 1st period AP English class.

"Yeah, sure Mr. Fitz," she replied.

As the pair left the room, Aria got up to get a tissue "accidently" knocking Spencer's bag over. She quickly shuffled Spencer's things together making sure to not forget to add a small note marked with a red –A.

Ezra and Spencer walked into the room a few minutes later as Ezra told the class the rest of the period could be used as a study hall. He made eye contact with Aria who gave him a slight nod to which he returned a soft smile. Ezra sat down in his plush chair strategically taking out his phone. He quickly typed a message and waited for the Aria to receive it.

Aria reached for her purse knowing the text was coming and feigned a look of distress as she glanced at Emily.

"Is it from A?" Emily frantically whispered.

Aria nodded biting her lip, knowing it made her seem more anxious. She often worried the girls would see through her charade as she was never really concerned over A's threats. She knew though that if the girls saw she was the only one not being threatened they would get suspicious and that would be bad.

"A's trying to get me to break it off with Ezra again," she mouthed back.

Emily gave her an apologetic look before writing I'm sorry in her notebook and turning the page toward Aria.

Aria smiled back and gave a thankful nod before returning to her work.

….

Aria stared at Ezra through the window on the door to his classroom wondering how she had got so lucky. School hours were over and so she giddily waltzed into his room.

"Hey," he grinned.

"Hey," she laughed.

"Did they believe you," he asked as he stood up from his chair shutting the blinds to his classroom.

"I think so," Aria responded.

"Good," Ezra said as he pulled Aria towards him. He rested his hands on her hips tracing circles with his thumbs along her pelvis.

"With that text you wrote I'd almost say you were as good as me," she chuckled.

"You've taught me well." Ezra softly bit on her lip knowing it drove her crazy as he pressed their bodies closer together.

"I guess I have."

**Ok so that's it for Chapter 1! I'm not really sure what I think of it and if I should continue it? Please review and tell what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ohhmyygoshh guys thank you soooooooo much for the reviews! I'm so appreciative of you guys and how nice the comments were!**

**Thanks to: prettylittlelover, cole87, Ally, LauralovesPLL, princessjasmine12, xonessienichole, Caligirl28, Music and Angels, loveasalways, Prettylittlefan, charmedtomeetyou, Madam Thalia, SolitudeMyLove, bite-me-im-irish, maddiemoo, Alma **

**And just to clarify you will find out why Aria and Ezra are the A-team but I want to keep you guys guessing for a little longer. I'll add clues in each of the chapters untill the final reveal!**

**Hope you guys enjoy this!**

Aria, Emily, and Hannah were all crowded around Spencer who was thumbing the note A had left her, while she worried her lip in between her gleaming white teeth. Hannah was rubbing soothing circles on her back while Emily pinched the bridge of her nose.

"This is getting really old," Emily sighed. The other three nodded in agreement a silence taking over the room.

"I…I just can't believe I have to break up with Toby," Spencer whimpered a lone tear trickling a path down her face.

"A could be bluffing?" Emily offered.

Spencer shook her head mumbling , "We all know the threats real Em."

Emily looked down discouraged that she couldn't do anything to help her friend.

"Can I see the note again?" Aria asked feigning interest in what she knew was all a game.

Spencer handed it over and Aria grasped it between her fingers.

_Break up with Toby, or he'll be suffering more than a broken heart- A_

"The thing is though I had my bag glued to my side for the whole day," Spencer reasoned. She knitted her eyebrows together annoyed she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

"What about when Fitz brought you in the hall?" Hannah realized.

Aria's breath hitched her throat as she felt her heart beat quicken. She nervously dug her nails into her palm creating 4 crescent shaped dents. Was it over? Would they figure out she was A? Would she be sent to jail?

"Aria!"

"W-what?" Aria stammered the sound of her name pulling her from her thoughts.

"I_ said_ did you see anything in Spence's bag when you knocked it over. You didn't answer for like 20 seconds," Hannah clarified.

"Oh sorry I was just spacing…but I didn't see anything sorry," Aria responded. She breathed a side of relief, her heart returning to its normal pace. Of course they wouldn't suspect her, what reason would they have. Ezra and Ali were the only other people who knew why she was doing this, and this recent event gave her reassurance it would stay that way.

Spencer nodded before leaning her head in her hands. The four stayed quiet for a while, Hannah, Emily, and Spencer still trying to decipher A's plan, Aria on the other hand racking her brain for responses to anything one of the girls could ask.

"P.E.," Spencer stated. "A must have somehow gotten into my locker then."

"Yeah that makes sense," Aria said, maybe a little too quickly, but none of the other girls seemed to notice.

"At least you'll keep Toby safe," Emily comforted. Spencer shrugged in response before rubbing her eyes and groaning.

….

"They didn't suspect anything right?" Ezra asked, fear leaking through his voice.

Aria adjusted her cellphone on her ear and flipped to the other side of her bed.

"No, but maybe this isn't smart," Aria breathed.

"I promise you this isn't smart," Ezra half-heartedly chuckled.

"Not helping," Aria retorted.

"I know," Ezra sighed. "I thought this what you wanted."

"It is," Aria explained her voice faltering ever so slightly at the end.

"We'll be more careful," Ezra told her. "And I won't let anything happen to you."

"I love you and thank you," she smiled.

"I love you too."

"So can I come over tomorrow, we should probably discuss more A plans," Aria suggested.

"I'll be waiting."

"Good, and the once that's finished we can have some fun," Aria giggled.

"What kind of fun," Ezra teased.

"It may or may not involve a bed," Aria laughed.

"I like the sound of that."

Aria knocked on the dark green door labeled 3B and she could hear Ezra moving around inside. After a few seconds the door opened and Ezra quickly pulled Aria in. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip silently asking her for entrance. Aria shook her head and smiled keeping her lips locked tight together.

"We have to get the work done before we play," Aria playfully scolded.

Ezra groaned good-naturedly rolling his eyes.

"We will you just have to wait a little longer," Aria informed him.

The two spent the next 20 minutes coming up with a seemingly immaculate plan for the next week. It incorporated numerous texts, notes, and a special event planned for Hannah.

As promised once their "work" was completed their lips immediately found each other's. Their tongues fought for dominance, Ezra's ultimately winning. Ezra traced Aria's sides his soft fingertips leaving her skin chilled. Ezra nibbled on Arias neck before scooping her up bridal style. He carelessly threw her on the bed before returning to his spot on her neck.

"You're beautiful," he whispered in her ear.

They continued their activities their bodies fitting perfectly together, before they both fell asleep.

….

Ezra woke to a muffled ringing that he recognized to be his cellphone. He fumbled his hand around on the floor until he found the pocket of his jeans. He slowly peeled himself from Aria swinging his legs off the bed as he checked his messages.

"Aria get up," Ezra shook her after he saw who had called.

"What?" Aria mumbled as she dug her face back into Ezra's pillow.

"We got like six missed calls from Ali's old number."

Aria instantly sat up giving him a nod to call back.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I hope you guys still liked this chapter! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**You guys really are the best readers ever! Thank you so much for the reviews! I love reading your guys theories! **

**Thanks to: princessjasmine12, Caligirl28, theilluminatidreamteam, xonessienichole, CheyeM1287, HaleyJamesScottNathanScott, taylor, bite-me-im-irish, cole87, Prettylittlefan, MadMaddz,LauralovesPLL, SolitudeMyLove, xShannonx11, and everyone else who read!**

_Previously:_

_"Aria get up," Ezra shook her after he saw who had called._

_"What?" Aria mumbled as she dug her face back into Ezra's pillow._

_"We got like six missed calls from Ali's old number."_

_Aria instantly sat up giving him a nod to call back._

Ezra pressed down on the 7 numbers he had hoped to never deal with again slowly bringing up the phone to his ear. The soft ringing was drowned out by the pulsing in his ear as he waited for the other line to pick up.

Aria was pressed up against his back on the bed so that she would be able to hear as well. She placed a warm kiss in between Ezra's shoulder blades trying to soothe his rampant nerves. They both knew what this number calling them could mean but neither dared to say it out loud.

The line went silent for a moment before a woman's voice said, "Hello?"

Aria didn't recognize the voice, but nonetheless she could feel Ezra tense up. She put her small hand on his back silently urging him to answer back.

"Uh hi," Ezra began. "You called this number?"

"Yeah, is this Ezra?" the woman asked.

"…Yes," Ezra hesitantly replied.

"Is Aria with you?"

Ezra made eye contact with his girlfriend who gave a confused shrug in response.

"Yeah, she is…can I ask who im speaking with?" Ezra questioned.

"It's not safe to say over the phone, but I like to speak with you two. Meet me at 6 tomorrow at the rosewood grille. I'll be sitting at the very last table on the right of the restaurant."

Before Ezra even had a chance to respond the line went dead leaving the apartment deathly quiet.

"You don't think she knows about that night right?" Aria breathed.

"How could she?" Ezra reasoned.

"Ezra," Aria whimpered. "What if someone saw when we were-"

"Don't say it," Ezra whispered as he put a finger up to Aria's lips. "We have to stay positive."

Aria nodded before falling back onto the bed. She pulled the covers closer to her body and scooched closer to Ezra. He wrapped his arms around her small frame planting kisses all along her hairline. They tried to calm their swarming thoughts but they both knew there was a chance someone had seen them on the night they had tried so hard to forget, and that was even scarier than what they had done.

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

Aria threw her jacket onto her bed before pulling out her World Civ textbook. She wanted to finish all her homework before tonight so she could put all her focus into the meeting with this mystery woman. She collapsed onto her desk chair groaning as she took out her homework questions.

About half-way through she heard a quick knock at her door. She called for them to come in as she finished the thought she was writing.

"Hey, can I talk to you," Ella asked.

Aria spun around in her chair and nodded her head.

"I was talking to Hannah's mom the other day about something Ashley had found." Ella walked over to Aria's bed and sat down before looking into her daughter's eyes.

"Mom what is it," Aria gave her a puzzled look when her mother didn't say anything for a little while.

"It's just… Aria is there someone that's causing trouble in your life?"

Aria tilted her head in confusion not getting what her mother was hinting at.

"Aria, Ms. Marin seems to think that somebody is bullying you four and I have to admit I'm little skeptical myself. I mean you used to tell me everything and now sometimes I feel like I don't even know you."

Aria swallowed before quickly shaking her head.

"No, there's no one bullying me mom. I've just grown up ok," Aria retorted.

"I still see you as my little girl," Ella confessed.

"Well im not," Aria told her as she grabbed all her school stuff. She could not let her mother continue to investigate this "bully" and had to make it clear that there wasn't one.

"Where are you going now?" Ella asked.

"I meeting up with some friends," Aria lied. She snatched her car keys and headed out of her room leaving no time for her mother to ask questions.

She raced to her car and immediately thrust the keys into the engine. Before she started driving she sent a quick text to Ezra telling him she'd meet him at his apartment.

Once she arrived they agreed to take Ezra's car both of them wanting to stay together. Ezra had his hand resting on Aria's thigh with her hand placed over his. It was a position they often practiced while driving as it was comforting for both.

"Aria I can feel your leg shaking," Ezra chuckled. He attempted to steady it with his hand while tracing circles along her knee with his thumb.

Aria gave him "really" look and began chewing on her nails.

"Aria, we will be fine," he promised.

They stopped at a red light and Ezra leaned over pressing a kiss to her temple.

When he pulled away Aria followed him back to his seat resting on his shoulder.

They soon arrived at their destination and the two walked into the restaurant hand in hand. They instantly searched for the booth, the woman had said she would be sitting in and not long after they found it.

Aria gave an almost inaudible gasp as she gripped Ezra's hand tighter. The person sitting there was the last person they had ever expected.

**So who is it? I think you guys will be surprised, because it's not the expected person. You guys should tell me who you think it is because I love reading that kind of stuff. **

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I'm going to try and make the next chapter a lot longer school is just really annoying right now.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for the reviews! I loved reading who you guys thought the mystery person was! I also made this chapter longer than usual!**

**Thanks: loveasalways, jills, CheyeM1287, princessjasmine12, PLLover1, Caligirl28, theilluminatidreamteam, HaleyJamesScottNathanScott, LauralovesPLL, SolitudeMyLove, cole87, bite-me-im-irish, taylor, Prettylittlefan, sarah, rola**

**Hope you guys like the chapter!**

_They soon arrived at their destination and the two walked into the restaurant hand in hand. They instantly searched for the booth, the woman had said she would be sitting in and not long after they found it. _

_ Aria gave an almost inaudible gasp as she gripped Ezra's hand tighter. The person sitting there was the last person they had ever expected. _

"I thought you said you didn't recognize the voice," Ezra whispered as he leaned down towards Aria's ear.

"I guess I just never thought it could be her," Aria breathed worry lines framing her face.

The pair made their way over to the infamous booth coming face to face with none other than Veronica Hastings.

"Hi, Aria…Mr. Fitz," she nodded her head towards the table indicating for them to sit down.

"Uh hi Mrs. Hastings," Aria murmured.

Veronica look at the two before saying, "I'll just get this out of the way, but I know about this," Veronica motioned to the two making it clear their relationship was no secret to her.

Aria could feel Ezra tense up next to her and saw him dig his fingers into the booth's soft seating.

"And I'm not going to tell anyone…mostly because that's the last thing this town needs," Veronica clarified.

"Is that what you needed to tell us?" Aria asked her voice laced with confusion.

"No, no," she said. "I needed to talk to you two about Alison." Veronica folded her hands on the table searching for the right words to say.

"When Alison went missing," she continued, "Mr. Hastings and I hired a private investigator to look into her disappearance. We were worried about someone who we thought might have been a suspect. Just recently a new piece of evidence turned up. We found Alison's phone and couldn't help but notice how many calls there were between you three."

"What are you saying?" Ezra spoke for the first time fear gracing his features.

"I just, I was wondering if you could tell me anything," Veronica added.

"I met Ezra when I knew Ali and sometimes I would just use his phone to call her," Aria explained. Ezra was amazed at how perfectly the lie flowed out her mouth, buts that why she was A, wasn't she.

"Yeah," Ezra agreed. "I'm sure you know the lengths teens will go to talk to their friends when their phoneless."

"I see, well thank you for taking the time to talk to me. And I'm sorry if it came off like I was accusing you, I just still don't know what to make of this case."

"I don't think any of us do," Aria smiled as she patted Veronica's hand.

Veronica gave an appreciative nod as she got up from the table, leaving the restaurant.

"Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees us," Ezra said as he motioned to the door.

Ezra stepped into his apartment, Aria following close behind. The car ride back had been silent each of them reeling from the discussion they had just had.

"Aria we have to talk about this," Ezra breathed, as he patted the seat next to him on his couch.

"I know," she murmured. Aria sat down and looked up into Ezra's eyes pleading for him to comfort her. He wrapped her up in a hug and slowly rocked them back and forth as Aria buried her face in his chest.

"We'll just tell the police what we told Spencer's mom," Ezra figured.

"And if they don't believe us," Aria posed looking back up at Ezra.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Because that's a pretty lame justification," Aria said. "I mean we must have called that number at least ten times a day the week before she went missing."

"Yeah well, with the way you lie, you can make any excuse sound good," Ezra chuckled.

Aria smiled as she bit her lip thankful for the lighter mood.

"You're not half bad either," she teased.

"Yeah, well that's why we're the A-team," he laughed.

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

Aria quickly shoved all her belongings into her schoolbag surveying her room one last time to make sure she didn't forget anything. She had ended up leaving Ezra's really late and then she still had to finish her homework once she got home. That led to her being extremely tired and to her over sleeping. Today was the day Hannah would get a special surprise from A, so this added stress was making Aria really frustrated.

She concluded that she had everything and raced down the stairs to her front door. She snatched her keys and was about to leave when she heard her name being called. She huffed before turning around to see her mother standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Where were you last night," Ella asked.

"Mom, I told you I was with my friends," Aria said clearly annoyed at repeating this information.

"Listen, I know how close you four are, but I don't like you being out all hours of the night," Ella exhaled.

"Mom, I really can't talk about this right now, I'm going to be late," Aria sputtered out trying to get the conversation to move faster.

"Just come home right after school so we can talk," Ella firmly stated.

"Can it be at four, there's something I really have to do," Aria pleaded.

Ella tilted her head signaling she wanted an explanation.

Aria racked her brain for something to say needing that time after school to complete her A plans.

"Mr. Fitz is tutoring me," Aria quickly made up hoping her mother wouldn't see through it.

"Aria you have an A in English, why would you need tutoring?" Ella wondered. She crossed her arms giving Aria a confused look.

_ Dammit. _Aria thought. She ran a hand through her hair and told her mother she had meant to say Mr. Finnick her Math teacher. She knew it was a risky move but it all she could think of right now.

"Four o'clock on the dot," was all Ella said as she retreated back up the stairs to her room.

Aria breathed a sigh of relief before turning and heading to her car.

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

Aria walked in to Ezra's classroom just as the bell rang hastily finding her seat. Ezra gave her a quick smile before grabbing a stack of papers off his desk. He passed out the packets telling the class they had until the end of the period to finish them and if they didn't it would be for homework.

Aria used this time to discreetly send Hannah a text making sure to block the number.

_Want to keep your mother safe? Steal back your "bank loan" and leave it in locker 457._

_ Combo is 34-12-27._

_ -A_

Aria knew Hannah would follow through to keep her mother safe, but really it would only hurt them both in the end. If they were broke, then Hannah would suffer and that's exactly what Aria wanted.

She glanced at Hannah and could tell by the petrified look on her face that she had definitely gotten the text. Aria relaxed back in her seat proud of the work she had done. She met Ezra's eyes signaling part 1 was complete.

PLLPLLPLLPLL

The rest of the day went by in a blur as Aria waited for 2:30. The end of the day bell finally rang and Aria headed over to Ezra's classroom. They planned to just hang out until Hannah returned with the money hopefully before 4:00.

"Are you sure she'll bring it," Ezra asked as he got up from his seat to lock his door. You could never be too safe and this was his one sure way they wouldn't get caught.

"I saw her practically race to her car, so probably, Aria responded.

Ezra led Aria by her hands over to his chair which he sat down in. Aria perched herself on his knees leaning back onto his chest. Ezra encircled his arms around her waist folding his hands in her lap. They stayed like this for a while just enjoying eachothers company. Eventually they heard distinct clicks outside of Ezra's door resulting in the two leaping up from Ezra's chair. They pressed their ears against his wooden door listening for the opening and closing of a locker. Luckily there had been a locker that was unused right outside of Ezra's classroom so it was the perfect one to use in their plan. Once they heard the locker slam shut and the footsteps start to fade away Aria quickly walked over to it. She turned the black dial to the necessary numbers before lifting the metal latch up. There at the bottom laid a sealed white envelope, to Aria's desire. She subtly grabbed it before walking back into Ezra's room.

Ezra gave a questioning expression to which Aria replied with a smile and a nod. She ripped open the package green bills tumbling everywhere onto Ezra's desk.

Ezra laughed and pulled Aria in for a kiss.

"What," Aria giggled at Ezra's odd behavior.

"I'm just happy," he explained. "We can do some many things with this kind of money."

"Well that was the plan wasn't it?" Aria smiled. She pulled back from their embrace to look the all the money strewn everywhere.

Suddenly a knock sounded at the door followed by "Mr. Fitz?" which Aria recognized to be her mother's voice. She looked at Ezra who had the same deer in headlights look. He shook his head bringing him back to reality as he pointed to a supply cabinet in the back of his room. Aria rushed to it just barely fitting inside but fortunately enough to conceal her.

Ezra walked over to his door opening it to Ella.

**I felt like this chapter wasn't too good but I'm going to try and update this weekend!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry for how long it took me to update! I'm on April vacation and my teachers decided since there's no school they should give us as much homework as possible. I'm definitely going to try and update more regularly though!**

**Thank you so much : YaleAceBella12, Princessjasmine12, Prettylittlefan, SolitudeMyLove, bite-me-im-irish, loveasalways, SpobyForever1106, theilluminatidreamteam, and everyone else who read! **

**Hope you guys enjoy this!**

_Suddenly a knock sounded at the door followed by "Mr. Fitz?" which Aria recognized to be her mother's voice. She looked at Ezra who had the same deer in headlights look. He shook his head bringing him back to reality as he pointed to a supply cabinet in the back of his room. Aria rushed to it just barely fitting inside but fortunately enough to conceal her._

_Ezra walked over to his door opening it to Ella._

"Mrs. Montgomery, H-hi," Ezra stuttered as he ran a hand through his tousled black locks.

"Please call me Ella," she smiled. The grin didn't reach her eyes though and Ezra could sense something was wrong.

"Ella," Ezra began, "Is everything okay?"

"I'm, I'm sorry to just interrupt you like this," Ella said her voice cracking slightly. "It's just have you seen Aria? She told me was staying after for math but her teacher said she never showed up. As I'm sure you know one of her best friends went missing and not knowing where she is, just really puts me on edge. I know your one of her favorite teachers and she basically holds you on a pedestal, so I thought maybe you knew something," Ella finished.

Ezra bit his lip not sure how to reply. He felt horrible seeing a mother so distraught over her daughter but he had to think about his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry for rambling," Ella said interrupting his thoughts. "I'm just really worried about her."

"No no, it's fine. I was just thinking. I'm pretty sure I just saw her walking by a few minutes ago," he replied whilst giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Thank you," Ella responded as she bowed her head and left the room.

As soon as they knew she was far enough away Aria came out from hiding walking straight to Ezra's arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and ran his hand along her back.

"What are you going to tell her," Ezra asked.

"I hate lying to her, but I guess I'll just have to think of some excuse," Aria mumbled into his chest. "And she's probably on her way home so I should go," she said dejectedly.

"When can I see you again," Ezra wondered as left Aria's embrace and started to gather his belongings.

"After this, I don't know if they'll ever let me out of the house again, but I will try," Aria smiled before giving Ezra a peck on the lips and heading for the door.

"Call me?" Ezra called out as Aria turned the handle.

Aria gave him a nod and blew him one last kiss as she exited his classroom.

….

Aria stepped into the threshold of her nearly silent house immediately looking around for her mother. Once Ella heard the door open she emerged from the top of the stairs glaring at Aria as she made her way down.

"Where the hell have you been," Ella muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't let me but I was just with the girls," Aria explained hoping her mother wouldn't see through her lie.

"Aria I know you were at school, Mr. Fitz saw you," Ella started to yell.

Aria rubbed her eyes as she racked her brain for something to say.

"Mom, I just I don't know okay," Aria snapped.

"Aria, why are you doing this," Ella whimpered as she wiped the tears running from her eyes.

Aria shook her head grabbing her keys and throwing open the front door.

"Aria, where are you going?" Ella cried as she followed her outside.

"Out." Aria stated as she got into her car. Before her mother had a chance to say anything more Aria started the car driving off to Ezra's apartment.

After a quick ten minutes she arrived at the place she been so many times before and ran up the stairs to 3B. She knocked on the dark green door hearing rustling inside.

"Hey," Ezra smiled as he opened the door letting Aria in. "That was fast."

When Aria didn't respond with her normally peppy attitude Ezra asked her what was wrong.

"I just hate lying to my mom," Aria told him a tear trickling down her face. "I basically stormed out of my house without an explanation and she's probably freaking out. "

Ezra cupped Aria's face in his hands pressing a soft kiss to her lips. His lips traveled to her ears as he whispered to her that everything would be ok.

…..

The couple ended up deciding to watch a movie and as most times they tried to do this it ended up in a heavy make out session. It was a nice distraction from everything going on in Aria's head and it was finally nice to have time for couple things. At the moment Aria was straddling Ezra's legs while his hands ran up and down her thighs. Aria worked on unbuttoning his shirt before running her hands across his toned chest. Ezra slid his hands up Aria's blouse running his fingertips along her sides. She moaned in his mouth her tongue fighting with his for dominance. Ezra hummed against her lips as he slid his hands under her legs hoisting her up. He carried her over to the bed finishing the night perfectly.

**I didn't think this chapter was too good but I wanted to give you guys something. There wasn't much A involved but this was sort of a filler chapter.**

**On a good note thought I just saw the preview for the new episode of punk'd with Lucy and Ian and oh my god I'm dying IAN GETS FAKE ARRESSTED! I'm like so happy right now haha!**

**Anyways please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I kind of feel like no one is reading this story anymore so I haven't really been motivated. I lost 10 reviews on the last chapter so I'm not really sure if people like this anymore. So please review if you liked the chapter or even criticism is fine, either way it makes me feel good that people are actually reading what I post.**

**On a happier note, punk'd was AMAZING! Lucy Hale and Ian Harding are like my favorite people on earth, and watching the show made me feel like Aria and Ezra were real people haha!**

**Thanks too: YaleAceBella12, Jasminelove, msbookworm93, Prettylittlefan, and theilluminatidreamteam**

Aria woke up curled against Ezra's warm body her chestnut brown hair sprawled across his muscular chest. Ezra had his arms wrapped protectively around her petite frame his chin resting atop her head. Aria stirred underneath Ezra's tight grip resulting in him waking up too. He brought a fist to his eye rubbing it before stretching out his limbs. Aria smiled up at him pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Do you know how much I love waking up to you," Ezra murmured his voice still thick with sleep.

Aria laughed and pulled him back for another kiss before whispering how much she enjoyed it also.

"I wish you could stay over every night," Ezra confessed as he walked over to his dresser rummaging for some pants.

Aria sighed," I might have to take you up on that based on yesterday with my mom." She grabbed Ezra's shirt from last night and threw it over her head smoothing out the fabric before pulling her hair from its confines.

"Aria your mom loves you, I'm sure you two will work it out," Ezra comforted her as he drew her in for a hug and kissed her forehead.

"I hope," Aria mumbled into his chest.

"Let's have breakfast and then you can go talk to her ok," Ezra offered as her brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled.

Aria ended up cooking them both pancakes due to Ezra's complete lack of cooking skills. Aria was just flipping the fluffy circles onto plates when Ezra wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"This smells delicious," he said into her neck.

Aria smiled leaning back into his embrace bringing her hands to rest on his that were folded across her stomach.

"Do you want one or two?" she asked.

"Two's good," Ezra's responded before helping her bring the meals over to his couch.

The couple sat down onto the dark leather couch brining their plates up to rest on their laps.

"So do you know what you're going to say to your mom when you get home," Ezra said his mouth filled with food and syrup trickling down the side.

"You are an animal," she laughed swiping the sticky liquid with her thumb and licking it off herself," but no I have no idea," she finished.

Ezra nodded giving her a comforting glance before returning to his breakfast.

"On a better note, I think these are the best pancakes I've ever had…maybe even better than my mom's," Ezra grinned.

"I can tell you're enjoying them," Aria giggled referring to the syrup she had already cleaned up.

Ezra playfully rolled his eyes before attempting to get her covered in syrup by kissing trying to kiss her cheek. Aria squealed and leapt off the couch dodging his face. She stood near the kitchen refusing to come back until he promised his games were finished.

"I promise," he laughed, "Just come back, I miss you."

The rest of the morning was filled with small talk neither wanting to bring up the forbidding conversation Aria would have to have with her mom. It was getting harder and harder to cover for the A activities and Aria knew her mom was starting to get suspicious. Eventually though once they had finished Aria figured she should leave not wanting her mom to have any more reason to be mad at her.

"Call me as soon as you can and tell me how it goes ok," Ezra ordered his hand traveling to her back and he hugged her tightly.

"I will," she replied her lips finding their ways to his giving him one last kiss.

…

Aria walked into her house to find her mother sitting in their living room her face buried in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. Aria quietly made her way over to her placing a hand on her mother's back. Ella immediately looked up her eyes filled with tears.

"Aria," she breathed as she quickly stood up pulling her daughter into her arms. "I was so worried about you," she whispered into her hair.

Aria hugged her mother back burying her own face into Ella's shoulder.

After a while Ella pulled back and looked at Aria her hand going up to rest on Aria's cheek.

"Let's sit down," Ella said leading Aria over to the couch. Ella hesitated before finally speaking up again as she tried to figure out how to word what she was going to say.

"Aria I was in your room yesterday and I found this," Ella explained as she pushed an A note towards Aria. "I also found this." Ella took the envelope filled with cash and placed it between them on the plush fabric.

"Aria…is someone threatening you? And please tell me you didn't steal this money." Ella quietly pleaded.

Aria stared at the contents in front of her, her heart dropping into her stomach. The A note had been something she had wrote up last week and intended to give to Emily. It said something about watching her back, but what Aria was really freaking out about was the money. She had no idea how she was going to explain that considering how much was in there.

"M-mom what were, what were you doing in my room?" Aria stammered as she attempted to change the subject.

"I was worried about you," Ella clarified. "I needed to see if there were any clues as to where you had run off too. Now answer the question." Ella instructed.

Aria swallowed as she racked her brain for anything to say.

"The note was just a joke," Aria offered. "Just the girls playing a prank on me."

Ella gave a look that said she didn't believe her but nodded her heads towards the money urging her to continue.

"The money…is um is just what I've saved up?" Aria said ending the sentence as more of a question as opposed to a statement.

"Aria you have a savings account at the bank, and there is a _lot_ of money in here," Ella pointed out her tone saturated with confusion.

"I know, um Grandma Beth gave that to me and she told me to keep it in my room," Aria made up. Her grandmother had passed away 3 years ago so she figured this way no one would know if she was really lying or not.

"Why didn't you ever tell us about this," Ella wondered.

"She told me to keep it a secret," Aria answered.

Ella shook her head before saying how she thought it would be better putting it in the bank because having this much money around the house was not a good idea.

Aria nodded her head in agreement desperately wanting to leave the conversation. When her mother finally dismissed her she practically ran up to her room. She collapsed onto her bed and rummaged through her bag until she found her phone. She quickly dialed Ezra's number which she knew by heart and waited for him to pick up. On only the second ring she heard his voice as he said, "Hey!"

"How did it go," he asked.

"Horrible," Aria grumbled. "My mom found some random A note and the cash we got from Hannah's.

She heard Ezra take a sharp intake of breath as he waited intently for her to continue.

"Luckily I made up some lie about the note being some prank and the money coming from my grandmother, but we have to start being really careful. My mom's gonna be on the A hunt from now on and if she finds something we could go to jail," Aria breathed.

"We can get them back another way," Ezra suggested knowing how dangerous their approach really was.

"Yeah but I know how paranoid A makes them and they deserve to feel as worse as possible," Aria reasoned her voice laced with disgust for the girls.

Ezra agreed with her point saying how they would just have to be super super careful.

"Can we talk about something else now," Aria asked as she rolled onto her stomach.

"Sure," Ezra said.

They continued to talk about random things for about 15 minutes, "I love you's" being exchanged every once in a while. They were just finishing discussing favorite movies when a knock on Ezra's side sounded. He quickly hopped up off his bed walking to open his door.

Aria waited patiently on the other line but when she heard a distinct voice say "We're with Rosewood Police," she almost dropped her phone. She heard them ask him to hang up his phone which he did instantly leaving Aria in the dark. Her heart pounded in her ribcage as she thought about all the possibilities for the reasons the police would be at Ezra's door. Did it have something to do with their A activities? The student/teacher relationship? Whatever it was Aria felt like she couldn't breathe as she contemplated what to do.

**So that's it for this chapter! And I promise soon you will find out their reasons for being A.**

**Review please! Even a just a nice job would be amazing!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you guys so so so so so much for the reviews! You all are so sweet, and I really liked reading them!**

**And good news, in this chapter you find out some major news involving Ali, A, and all of that!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks: Sarale, YaleAce, LauralovesPLL, princessjasmine12, Kay, jills, msbookworm93, Caligirl28, Nabrenda12, SolitudeMyLove, Teagan, bite-me-im-irish, BabySenna, lizzie, theilluminatidreamteam, thecandygirl1, SpobyForever1106, CheyeM1287**

Aria sat on her bed anxiously awaiting a call, text, or any sort of communication from Ezra. She knew that if she went to his apartment it might be worse than not going at all if the police were still there. She fiddled with one the tassels from her pillow twisting the long strands around her finger. She watched as the extremity started to turn purple before releasing it from its bounds. She continued this same pattern as she tried to come up with other reasons as to why law officials would need Ezra. She and the girls were still known around town as "the best friends of that girl who was murdered" so Aria hoped that Ezra's visitors only wanted to ask questions about that. It seemed plausible, he still being their teacher maybe they thought he could give them some answers.

A soft knock at her door caused her to look up to be met with Ella. Ella had the home's phone grasped tightly in her hand and her face reflecting worry and sadness.

"I just got off the phone with Mrs. Hastings," Ella began as she came to sit next to Aria on her bed.

For the 3rd time that day, Aria's heart sank to her stomach her breathing becoming slightly more labored. Mrs. Hastings and the girls were the only other people who knew about her and Ezra's relationship and paired with the fact the police were currently at Ezra's Aria had a feeling they weren't the only ones anymore.

"Honey, a couple of days ago the school found out that in one of the lockers there was a bloody sweater," Ella explained her expressions becoming more and more troubled with every word spoken. "They did some tests and sweetie… it was Ali's blood."

Ella placed a comforting hand on Arias back as she continued. "The school claimed that, that locker hasn't been in use for a while and said that whoever did it, had to have gone to Rosewood. I just wanted to give you a heads up, because the detectives working on Ali's case might plan on questioning you and the girls and a few other people from school."

Aria ran hair through her hair sweeping the locks off to one side. She gave her mother a hug and told her thanks and that she really just felt like being alone right now. Her mother nodded and kissed the top of Aria's head before silently leaving the room. The second she heard her mother's footsteps hit the last step of the stairs she flipped open her phone happy to see a flashing 'New Message' symbol.

She immediately clicked it relief washing over her as she saw the sender was E.F.

_Call me right now._

Aria clicked call sender as she traveled over to her door making sure it was locked. Not even half way through the first ring Aria heard the line pick and heard Ezra ask if it was her.

"Yeah, it' me," Aria replied.

Ezra drew in a shaky breath, as he said, "The police came to ask me if I knew anything about a bloody sweater in locker at school."

"My mom just told me," Aria murmured.

"Aria, they have detectives checking DNA on it," Ezra breathed.

"I know," Aria whimpered her voice faltering.

She heard Ezra sigh on the other line knowing he was just as worried as she was.

"So what did you tell them," Aria asked as she began pacing around her room.

"Just that I hadn't heard anything, but I'd tell them if I did," he responded. Ezra strode over to his fridge reaching inside to grab an ice cold beer. He popped the cap off taking a long swig of the golden liquid letting it cool his rampant nerves.

"My mom said they'll probably have to question me and the girls again," Aria told him.

"Do you know what you're going to say?"

"Probably something similar to you," Aria figured as she trailed her finger across a picture of the 3 girls, her, and Ali.

"I love you," Ezra suddenly stated.

"I love you too," Aria smiled.

"I just, want you know that… no matter what happens," he clarified.

"I know," she nodded.

…

_Aria stared at the face resting in her lap and gently pushed back the curls framing their face. She felt her own eyes fill with water and saw a lone tear gently hit the shirt of the person she was holding. The form opened their piercing blue eyes contrasting the blond locks surrounding her face. Aria recognized the body as Alison's as a smile graced the figure's features._

_ "Ali?" Aria whispered._

_ Alison didn't respond but instead continued to stare at Aria with the same sickly sweet expression plastered on her face. Aria began to shake the unmoving body when she noticed her hands feeling sopping wet. She retrieved them from under Alison's back where they had been resting only to see them covered in blood. The dark red fluid dripped down her arms only covering Alison more. That's when Aria discovered the huge wound residing in between the shoulder blades of Ali. She looked again at her hands the only difference this time was that they were holding a knife...dripping with blood. Aria swallowed thickly as she felt more water streaming down her face. She tried to scream but no sound emerged from her throat. Aria then felt a pair of strong arms enclose her in a hug and by the smell of cologne she recognized it to be Ezra. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head holding her shoulders between his firm hands. Aria turned around and smiled pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Ezra brushed her tears away with his thumb and told her everything was for the better._

Aria instantly sat upright in her bed as soon as the dream had ended. She realized how heavy she had been breathing and brought a hand to her forehead feeling the large amounts of sweat covering it. She glanced at her bedside clock which red 12:45 pm and figured she must have fallen asleep after getting off the phone with Ezra. She didn't hear any other sounds in the house and assumed that everybody else was in bed too. She stood up from her bed and walked to her window her warm breath fogging up the cool glass. She hadn't had that dream in over a year and half and she had hoped to never have it again. It was always the same and while the end was comforting to her the rest of the dream just brought up memories she would rather keep buried. She heard a beep from her desk and made her way over to it seeing her phone light up.

_E. F: You up?_

_A: Yeah, I couldn't sleep…I had "that dream" again._

_E.F: We're going to worry ourselves sick if we keep thinking about this._

_A: I know…I'm just so nervous someone's gonna figure it out._

_E.F: It was a new sweater, and we were wearing gloves._

_A: What if we messed up?_

_E.F: We didn't. We were careful and if we don't stay positive we are going to lose our minds._

_A: Yeah I guess…The dream always just leaves feeling guilty._

_E.F: That's natural human behavior to feel that way, but it needed to be done._

_A: Yeah I know I just feel a little bad sometime, that we had to use her to get to the girls._

_E.F: She'd be proud of you _

Aria smiled to herself as she thought about what Ezra had said. She'd like to think that Ali would be satisfied with the job she was doing. That and Ezra were the only two things keeping her going.

A: Do you know how much I love you?

E.F: Can't be more than I love you :)

A: (: Talk to you tomorrow?

E.F: I can't wait.

**So there's chapter 7, hope you guys like it! So the end gives away what Aria and Ezra did, and soon you will find out more, like why they hate the girls and are A!**

**I feel like the end was a bit dark and morbid so I'm not really sure if I liked it that much but please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks so much for the reviews! And thank you to taylor for your idea, I used it in this chapter!**

**Princessjasmine12, LauralovesPLL, CheyeM1287, msbookworm93, SolitudeMyLove, taylor, DiaanaMallete –Thanks for reviewing! **

**Also it gets a little bit M at the end but I'll warn you.**

Ezra threw some student's papers and a couple of tests into his over the shoulder bag before switching off his classroom light and locking it up for the day. He adjusted his tie which had become crooked due the strap and continued down the halls of Rosewood High. Aria was going to meet up with him at his apartment for a much needed relaxing evening of Chinese take-out and movies. He smiled to himself as he thought about the evening to come. Ezra turned a corner and was about to leave through the front doors when he heard a voice he would recognize anywhere. He retreated a few steps back to peer down another corridor when he saw Aria with her back towards him. She was talking to a man which Ezra immediately distinguished as Jason DiLaurentis. He leant back against a wall so he wouldn't be seen but would be able to make out what they were saying. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping on their conversation but his protective nature of Aria had kicked in and he needed to make sure she would be ok. He knew Jason was trouble on account of the many stories regarding his summer of drugs and alcohol. What he was more worried about though was if Jason found out anything about him and Aria's relations to Alison. Jason may have been a pothead and delinquent, but Ezra knew he cared deeply for his sister and there was chance things could turn really bad if Aria and his secret got discovered.

"Aria please," Ezra heard Jason implore.

"Jason, I told you I'm not available," Aria sighed. She ran a hand through her silky tresses clearly frustrated she was having this conversation again.

Ezra scrunched his face together clearly not expecting them to be talking about this. He turned slightly so his ear was closer to them waiting for Jason's response.

"Aria, I know I'm not the only here who feels like we have something," Jason said.

When Aria didn't say anything back Ezra could feel his throat tighten up. He had no idea Jason had felt this way and that Aria seemed to be reciprocating those feelings. Ezra quietly turned away and silently padded off to the exit not being to bear any more of their discussion.

Aria exhaled another sharp breath starting to become extremely annoyed.

"I don't know what else to say Jason," Aria breathed. "I don't have feelings for you ok?"

"You'll come around eventually…I know you will," Jason predicted. He gave her a small smile before leaving down the halls.

Aria shook her head and fixed her purse on her shoulder and headed off to her car. After her Jason's encounter at least she had Ezra's to look forward too. With the stress of the sweater discovery by the police and keeping up with her A plans Aria really needed a night of just fun. She turned her keys into the ignition and sped off towards Rosewoods Green Center Apartment complexes.

After a quick 15 minutes she arrived at apartment 3B, which she considered her home away from home. It was a nice sanctuary for her and Ezra where they could be a normal couple without the critical judgments from the public.

Aria quickly knocked and in response heard rustling inside. Ezra opened the door to him still in his dress pants and tie.

"Hey," Aria grinned, standing on her tip-toes to give him a peck on the lips. Aria noticed Ezra hadn't been that into the kiss but she dismissed figuring he was just tired from a long day of work.

"I thought you would have been changed already," Aria laughed. "Isn't that uncomfortable," she asked referring to his tie.

"I had to stay late to do some grading, so I just got home," he replied.

"Well, I think I can help you with that." Aria moved towards him her hands gripping his tie and slowly loosening it. She began to unbutton the first holes of his shirt before Ezra's hands came down to stop them.

"I'm not really in the mood right now," he confessed, detaching himself from her and walking to his fridge to grab a beer.

Aria felt slightly embarrassed but said it was totally fine.

"So you wanna watch a movie," she offered hoping he would be a little more into this.

"Doesn't matter," he said taking a large gulp from the brown glass bottle.

"Is this about the whole sweater thing," Aria wondered. "Because if it is there's no way anyone will find out. You said it yourself we were really careful," Aria explained. She walked over to Ezra taking his hands in hers staring up into his eyes.

Ezra glanced away and removed his hands saying that that wasn't it and he was just really tired. He went to go sit on his couch leaving Aria standing in his kitchen.

"Ezra, I have been around you when you're tired and you're never like this. I'm starting to get a feeling that you don't want me here," Aria admitted her face contorting slightly as she thought about the idea.

"Maybe I feel like you don't want me here," Ezra retorted.

"Ezra, what does that even mean, I love you," Aria breathed. She went to sit down next to him turning his face in her hands when he wouldn't look at her. "Ezra what is wrong," she begged him her own eyes beginning to get wet.

Ezra shut his eyes taking a deep breath. "I heard you talking to Jason," he clarified. "I know that you might have feelings for him."

Aria gave him a confused look and stressed that she didn't feel that way at all.

"Aria, I heard him say he knew you liked him and you didn't respond. No answer usually means yes," Ezra recalled his own voice cracking a little.

"What did you hear after that?" Aria asked still not understanding how Ezra thought she had feelings for Jason.

"Nothing, I left. I couldn't stand any longer hearing you confess your love for another man."

"Ezra," Aria said. "The silence was me not knowing what else to say."

"And if you had stayed longer you would have heard me tell him I don't think of him that way and then leave," she added.

"Do you really think I would do that to you?" Aria whispered.

Ezra shook his head claiming her lips for a kiss. "I'm sorry," he whispered back against her mouth. "With all of this A stuff I have to worry about you getting hurt or not coming back and thought of you leaving me kills me and I just get a little crazy," he smiled at the end. He wiped away Aria's tears while she brushed that one unruly curl from his forehead signaling that all was forgiven.

Aria crawled into Ezra's lap happy that they were back to their regular relationship. **(M)** Ezra trailed his hand up and down her back twirling her brown locks on his pointer finger. His hand traveled to the hem of her blouse his fingertips grazing the small amount of exposed skin between her shirt and pants.

Aria looked up at him and giggled as she asked him if he was sure he was in the mood. Ezra laughed with her before capturing her lips in a searing kiss which Aria took as a yes.

Ezra pulled her flowery shirt over her head throwing it somewhere in his apartment. Aria repositioned herself so she was straddling Ezra as she finished her work on his red tie. Once that had been successfully removed she started again on the buttons of his shirt. She kissed his chest each time a new piece of skin was revealed until she was right below his navel. His happy trail scratched at her cheek as Ezra aided Aria in pulling his shirt all the way off. Ezra pulled Aria back up to his lips as his hands skillfully unlatched her bra. He slid the straps off her shoulder letting the piece of fabric fall to the floor.

He took in the sight of her creamy supple breasts causing Aria to blush and bury her head in his chest. Ezra chuckled at her behavior pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. He loved how Aria was so compassionate for others and was always worried about Ezra's needs instead of her own as she sank to the floor unzipping Ezra's pants. Ezra felt thought that he had been in the wrong today and needed to make it up to her. He pulled her back up and scooped her up bringing them over to his bed.

Ezra hovered over her on the striped duvet explaining how she deserved this for what he had put her through today.

"Ezra it's fine, I really don't mind," she said reaching again for his slacks.

"I do," he smiled as he stopped her from going any farther. He slid his hand down between them as he found the button on her jeans and quickly popped it from its confines. He pushed the denim down her soft legs leaving her clad in black lace panties. He pressed a kiss to her center though the material and heard her moan in response.

After both of them were completely naked and aching for each other even more Ezra grabbed a foil package from his bedside drawer. He positioned himself based on Aria as they made love, the two of them becoming one. **(M over… I hope that was ok, it was my first time writing anything like that)**

Aria and Ezra laid entangled in the bed sheets their sweaty bodies pressed tightly against one another. Aria was curled up against Ezra's chest as she traced lazy circles across his abdomen. Ezra rubbed his feet against hers under the covers and ran his lips across her hairline.

"Can I just say how nice this is," Aria spoke her voice full of contempt.

"1 ½ more years, and we can do this every day," Ezra smiled against her forehead.

"Do you think we'll still be together?" Aria murmured.

"Of course," Ezra replied. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I don't know. It's just if everything goes to plan we won't be A anymore then and do you ever think that maybe that's part of the reason we've stayed together for so long?" Aria brought up.

"I'm not going to lie, when I first met you I thought were amazing and when you told me about all of this A stuff I thought it might be better for your sake if I didn't leave at a time when you obviously needed someone else. But then I fell I love with you. And it wasn't because you were A, it was because you were smart, funny, beautiful, and so many other things. So even though the mask will be gone everything I love you for will still be there," Ezra finished his eyes filled with nothing but love.

Aria kissed Ezra chastely wrapping her arms up around his neck.

"I don't think I'll ever stop loving you," Aria acknowledged.

"Good," Ezra laughed.

A shrill beep from Aria's purse broke them away from their intimate moment. Aria groaned as she fumbled around for phone at the bottom of her bag. She finally pulled it out reading an S.O.S. text from Spencer.

"Did you send the girls an A text?" Aria asked Ezra.

"No," he shook his head. "Why?"

"They sent me an S.O.S. text which is weird because we usually only do that we get A messages."

"Do you have to go?" Ezra sighed hoping she would say no.

"I'm sorry," Aria gave him a sympathetic look before grabbing her clothes from the floor and quickly getting dressed.

Ezra nodded in understanding as "I love you's" were exchanged and Aria headed out.

She hopped into her car driving off to Spencer's house. Once she arrived she saw the other girls sitting in the kitchen as Spencer greeted her.

'What's up?" Aria asked.

The other three all looked at each other before looking back at Aria.

"Maybe you should sit down," Emily suggested.

Aria cast them all weird glances as she took a seat at one of the bar stools.

"It's just that as I'm sure you've come to the conclusion yourself over this past year we've realized that we really can't trust anyone," Spencer began. "And well we feel that maybe-"

"For god's sake Spencer," Hannah cried. "Could you take longer?"

Spencer shot her look which resulted in Hannah turning to Aria.

"We think Fitz might be A," Hannah said.

Aria tensed up not sure how to react. Emily had her head down not wanting to meet Aria's eyes while Spencer and Hannah were having a silent argument about how the news should have been delivered.

"Why?" Aria finally spoke.

"It's just that he works at school so I'm sure he be able to find a way to get into our lockers and we always only get texts in his classroom. And he's closest to one of us, which is an easy way in," Spencer reasoned.

"Ezra's not A," Aria argued.

"Aria we know you don't want to hear this, but the facts match up. We have to look farther into this and you're are only way," Hannah explained.

"No," Aria stated. "I won't do it."

"Then we will," Hannah said.

** So that's chapter 8! I hope you guys like it and please review! It would mean so much!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing! YaleAce, SpobyForever1106, princessjasmine12, theilluminatidreamteam, SolitudeMyLove, CheyeM1287, DiaanaMallete, LauralovesPLL, taylor**

**Chapter 9!**

"Then we will," Hannah said.

Those three words rang through Aria's head as she tried to process what all of this would mean. If the girls did investigate they could find something, but if Aria wouldn't let them they might get suspicious. Aria clamped the bridge of nose between her thumb and pointer finger heaving a sigh.

Emily always being the considerate person she was, came up behind Aria slowly running her hand along her back.

"We're really sorry Aria, but this A stuff has gone on for too long and we just have to make sure," Emily explained as she continued to comfort Aria.

Aria shrugged Emily's hand off and abruptly stood up giving them all a look that could kill.

"Aria if you're so sure he's not A, then why won't you let us just look into this," Hannah asked her voice hinted with a pleading note.

"Fine," Aria murmured. She knew that the other girls were starting to question her resistance and just prayed that she didn't leave any A stuff with Ezra.

"Thank you," Spencer stated as she pulled Aria into an embrace. "It's just better if we know for sure," she whispered.

Aria stayed stationary for the hug but nodded her head at Spencer's justification.

"So how are we going to do this?" Aria questioned. She hoped that maybe they would suggest she just do it so that way she could make up that she saw nothing.

"You have a key to his apartment right?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah," Aria replied.

"Well, I say when he leaves, we go and look for anything," Spencer figured.

The three girls waited for Aria's approval and after a bit of silence she finally shrugged her shoulders and said whatever. Emily gave her a thankful smile to which Aria smiled back.

At least Aria would be able to prep his apartment making sure nothing A related was there so she went along with this plan.

"See if he's there now," Hannah suggested.

"Shouldn't we wait and do it tomorrow or maybe the next day," Aria sputtered. The other three gave her odd looks at her fast response but assumed she was still frazzled over the accusations made over Ezra.

"The sooner we do it, the sooner it's over," Spencer reasoned. She pushed her phone closer to Aria signaling for her to call him.

Aria reluctantly took the cell phone swallowing the lump forming in her throat. She once again prayed that Ezra was home and would be planning on staying there.

Hannah mouthed "put it on speaker" as Aria dialed Ezra's number. Aria took another deep breath as she pressed the tiny button that would allow them all to hear her conversation.

The shrill ringing of the phone echoed throughout the Hastings's house which was almost deathly quiet apart from Aria's slightly louder breathing.

"Hey A," Ezra chirped as he answered his phone. Aria almost passed out at the use of his nickname for her but tried not to let it show.

Aria forced out a laugh as she said, "Did you just come up with that nick name for me?"

Ezra on the other end furrowed his eyebrows confused as to she would be asking that.

"I alwa-"

"So" Aria interrupted him not wanting to accidently give away both their identities. "I was wondering if you were at home."

"No, I'm actually at the Rosewood Grill. All those activities we did made me pretty hungry," he chuckled.

Aria's face turned a crimson red while the other three attempted to stifle their giggles even in the serious situation.

Aria attempted to cool down her face by placing her palms on her cheeks as she tried to laugh along with him.

"So when do you think you're going to be home?" Aria continued.

"Probably not for a couple of hours, I was going to stop at the book store after I finished my meal," Ezra told her.

Aria's heart sunk in her chest as she realized what this meant.

"Ok, well I'll call you later," Aria said.

Ezra hesitantly agreed wondering why the conversation was over so quick. He really didn't see the purpose in this phone call but he still enjoyed hearing his girlfriends voice.

"Love you," He stated.

"I love you too," Aria responded before hanging up the phone. She looked around the table at the other three who were all looking back at her with consoling expressions. Aria grabbed her purse and headed for the door all of them trailing behind.

The car was extremely awkward nobody wanting to mention what they were about to do. Aria was driving, with Spencer in passenger seat and Emily and Hannah in the back. Aria soon pulled up into the parking lot of the apartment complex and shut the car off. The four girls sat in silence none of them sure if they should make the first move. After more than a minute Aria huffed saying she wanted to get this over as soon as possible. The other nodded their heads vigorously not wanting Aria to get any madder at them then she already was.

Aria lead the group up the dark black stairs stopping on the third floor. She turned the corner and faced the dark green door labeled 3B. She let out a shaky breath as she fumbled around in her purse until she found the key. Aria pushed the shiny metal in the doorknob and twisted hearing the locks open. With one last big breath she turned the knob revealing Ezra's apartment.

Aria walked in first and waited for the rest of them to all be in before they all looked at each other.

"So now what?" Aria said.

"Now we just look around," Spencer clarified.

Aria made sure to keep an eye on the other three waiting to see if anyone would find anything. She wandered aimlessly around the apartment looking in the drawers that she knew contained nothing of any importance.

"Aria!" Hannah squealed.

Aria quickly turned around from her spot at Ezra's desk to see Hannah staring back at her, a goofy smile plastered on her face.

"Is this what I think it is?" Hannah held up a red bandeau, which matched the color Aria's face was turning yet again. Aria hurriedly walked over to her snatching the fabric from Hannah's hands and throwing it into her purse.

"I thought we were here on business," Aria scolded.

"Hey, it's not my fault you two obviously can't keep your hands off each other," Hannah held up her hands in mock defense.

Aria rolled her eyes returning to her previous spot.

"Have you guys found anything yet," Spencer called out as she was racking through his book shelf.

A chorus of no's followed, to which Spencer let out a defeated sigh.

"Yeah me neither," Spencer responded. "I guess we were wrong."

Aria smiled triumphantly, ecstatic that nothing had been discovered.

"Wait," Emily choked out. She held up a pair of black gloves fear etched across her face.

** So that's Chapter 9 , I hope you guys liked it! There wasn't that much Ezria in this chapter but there will be in the next, so make sure to review and I'll try to update really soon!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you: YaleAce, LauralovesPLL, taylor, SolitudeMyLove, gwen, CheyeM1287, xTwilightxSparklesx, theilluminatidreamteam, HelloKittyHell, DiianaMallete, Prettylittlefan **

**taylor: A bandeau is like the equivalent of a strapless bra**

**You guys are awesome! :)**

"_Have you guys found anything yet," Spencer called out as she was racking through his book shelf._

_ A chorus of no's followed, to which Spencer let out a defeated sigh._

_ "Yeah me neither," Spencer responded. "I guess we were wrong."_

_ Aria smiled triumphantly, ecstatic that nothing had been discovered. _

_ "Wait," Emily choked out. She held up a pair of black gloves fear etched across her face._

Aria froze in her spot the grin on her face dropping immediately. She could hear her heart echoing in her head as her lip trembled slightly.

"Aria, what is this?" Emily whispered.

"A lot of people have gloves," Aria said.

"Stashed away in a box under their bed?" Emily breathed.

"It's warm out, they're in storage," Aria shrugged.

"Aria," Emily gave her a pained expression, knowing how bad this looked.

"Can I see those for a second?" Spencer asked.

Emily nodded and walked over to Spencer handing her the black gloves.

"Aria these are women's gloves…there's no way they would fit him," Spencer said. She showed Aria the small tag inside that confirmed their size.

Aria closed her eyes trying to fight back the tears she knew were threatening to spill over. This was it she thought. It was finally over and she and Ezra would be caught.

"So what are you saying?" Aria choked out.

"I'm saying that Ezra may or may not be A, but he is definitely involved. Maybe A is some team and his partner in crime is a girl. That would explain why he has these," Spencer reasoned as she held up the leather accessories.

Aria exhaled still amazed at how they didn't even exercise the idea that she might be A.

"We have to look farther into this," Spencer told her, a somber look etched on her face. "I'm really sorry."

Aria nodded in defeat, the severity on the situation finally sinking in. Spencer put the gloves back where Emily had found them and said they could finish this, another day. She didn't want to push Aria too far and considering the pale, worried look Aria was sporting she figured it this was enough for today.

Spencer offered to drive with which Aria held no opposition as she got into the car wordlessly. The other three girls stayed at Spencer's house while Aria decided to head back to Ezra's. She told the girls she was going home not wanting them to give her a lecture on how dangerous Ezra could be.

Aria ambled into Ezra's apartment still shooken up from the day's events. She fell back onto Ezra's couch and closed her eyes. She rubbed the pads of her pointer fingers in circular motions on her temples trying to breathe steadily. After calming down a bit she opted for watching TV curled up in one of Ezra's sweatshirts she found in his closet. Before she knew it her eyes began to feel heavy and soon she drifted off to sleep.

Spencer, Emily, and Hannah decided to have a sleepover at Spencer's. They were currently seated on Spencer's bed, they too still rattled from their finding's at Ezra's.

"You don't think Aria could be involved right?" Emily practically whispered as she broke the silence.

Spencer and Hannah instantly turned to face her, their faces reflecting ones of shock.

"No, of course not," Hannah shook her head.

"Yeah, and why would she do all those things to herself too?" Spencer added.

Emily shrugged still not totally convinced.

"She looked just as surprised as we did when we found the gloves, Em," Hannah said.

"I guess, but aren't you the littlest bit skeptical. All the facts add up," Emily argued.

"This is exactly what A wants… for us to turn on each other. We can't let that happen," Spencer responded.

Emily nodded and looked down, feeling ashamed she thought Aria could be A. She would never do that, they were all in this together.

Ezra opened his apartment door to find Aria curled up on his couch sleeping. He smiled to himself as he heard her soft sighs. He quietly shut his door and padded over to where she was laying. He lowered himself onto the couch trying not to jostle it too much. He brought her feet up into his lap and let them rest there while he watched the TV on mute.

After a little while Ezra felt Aria stir slightly and looked down to see her opening her eyes. She stretched her limbs and sat up so she was eye-level with Ezra.

"Hey," she mumbled her voice still thick with sleep.

"Hey," he grinned giving her a peck on the lips.

"How long was I asleep for," she asked as she smoothed the sweatshirt she was wearing.

"Only about 20 minutes since I got here," he replied. Ezra brushed a lock of hair that had fallen into her face living Aria's skin tingling.

"So what's up," he wondered.

"I just wanted to say hi," she answered. Aria didn't want Ezra to know about the girls findings afraid that he would stop being A with her. She also didn't want him to worry over something she figured she could find a solution to. She planned on just lying her way through it like everything else she did and deterring the girls from Ezra by creating a new suspect. She was A however, so she had all the power to make it seem like it was someone else. All she had to do was plant some new evidence paired with some cryptic texts and she was done.

Ezra smiled back at her but he could see that her eyes were very distant. He knew something was bothering her but he didn't want to pry. He instead pulled her closer and pressing kisses everywhere on her face. First her forehead, then her cheeks, nose, and lastly her lips.

"I love you so much," he whispered.

Aria cupped his face with her small hand to which he leaned into. She ran her thumb across her cheek and gave him a tender kiss.

"Can I have a drink with you," she mumbled against his lips.

Ezra pulled back and gave her a disapproving look. He knew he was the last person who should be telling people to not drink there problems away, but it still worried him that Aria was so young. Even though he thought of her like an adult his protective nature of her told him this was a bad idea.

"C'mon Ezra," she begged. "It'll be fun."

"Aria, is there something wrong?" Ezra asked.

"No," she huffed. "I just want to have one night were I can just relax.

Ezra had always had a bad history of saying no to her and today was no exception. He hesitantly walked over to his cupboard pulling out a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka. Aria pointed to his left hand signaling she wanted the vodka. This again worried Ezra knowing she wanted the stronger beverage. He searched around in his disorderly cabinets until he found two shot glasses.

He brought everything over to the table and sat on the floor next to Aria. Without any reluctance she grabbed the liquid pouring them each a glass. She immediately gulped it down and soon reached for a second. Ezra was little more careful with his shots and made sure his thoughts were still intact. As for Aria he hadn't been able to keep track of how many she had drunken but by her slurred speech and carefree manner he figured it was a good amount.

"Ezzz," she garbled. Aria began to climb on his lap and placed kisses all along his neck. She reached for his belt but Ezra hands stopped her.

"Aria, you're hammered," he stated.

"So," she mumbled as she continued to kiss along his chest.

"So we can't do this," he said.

Aria sat up and frowned. "Do you n-not like me anymooore," she whined.

"Aria I love you, but I'm not going to take advantage of you like that," he explained.

Aria sighed and fell into his chest resting her head in the crook of his neck. Ezra laughed at her behavior and ran his hand along her back. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head causing her to giggle.

"Are y-you maaad at me?" she managed to get out as she hiccupped.

"No, why would I be mad at you," Ezra asked.

"The glooovess," she exasperated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Aria, what gloves?"

"The glovesss that Emiilly f-found. And that they think you aree A," she slurred.

Ezra gave her a confused glance but picked her off his lap and set her on the couch. He walked over to the bed and looked underneath. Sure enough the box that held Aria's A outfit had been moved slightly. He ran a hand through his hair heaving a large sigh.

"Your aree madd," Aria whimpered a tear starting to trickle down her face.

"I'm not mad baby," he said as he scooped her up from the couch. "You just need some rest and we'll talk in the morning."

"Ok," she agreed. Ezra set her down on his bed taking off her heels. He tucked her into the covers giving her a kiss on her forehead. His heart was racing at the fact that the girls might think he was A, but he climbed into bed with her anyways pulling her close to his body.

**I really really want a drunk Aria on the show haha!**

**Hope you guys liked this and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you: LauralovesPLL, xTwilightxSparklesx, princessjasmine12, SolitudeMyLove, PrettyLittleSwifty13, DiianaMallete, CheyeM1287, poisonnwine, ducygirrrrrrrrll32, taylor.**

**LauralovesPLL, thank you for the idea, I used it in this chapter!**

**Also, you guys find out why Aria hates the girls in this chapter!**

Aria slowly opened her eyes but shut them immediately the bright light of the sun only amplifying her throbbing headache. She groaned and brought an arm to her face to further shield her eyes as she heard Ezra calling her name.

"Did you just get up," he softly spoke as he came over to sit on the bed.

Aria nodded underneath her arm before rolling closer to him. Ezra smiled and cradled her to his chest pressing feathery kisses to the top of her head.

"I brought you some water and aspirin," Ezra told her as he grabbed them from his nightstand.

Aria sluggishly lifted her head up and gave him a grateful smile as she gulped down the liquid and pills.

"Do you remember anything that happened last night," Ezra asked, rubbing smooth circles along Aria's back.

"All I remember is us drinking together and then nothing," Aria responded her voice slightly hoarse. "Please tell me I didn't do something stupid," she laughed.

"Nothing too bad," he chuckled.

"Good," Aria grinned.

"You did tell me something though," Ezra tone became more serious while he looked into Aria's worried eyes.

"What," she murmured.

Ezra sighed, "That the girls think I'm A," he clarified.

"Dammit," he heard Aria mutter under her breath.

"Aria why didn't you tell me before," Ezra pursued.

"I didn't want you to worry," she explained. "I'll take care of it."

"Aria, were in this together."

Aria nodded and gave Ezra a tender kiss on the lips silently thanking him for not being mad with her.

"Do you know what you're going to tell them," Ezra wondered.

Aria shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it too much."

"Why don't you just say that heir mine and that's where I keep my gloves," Ezra suggested.

Aria shook her head, "I already tried that, but they realized they were women's gloves."

"Oh," Ezra said.

Aria bit her lip in thought as she mindlessly twirled a piece of hair in between her fingers.

"What if," Aria began but a blush quickly spread over her cheeks causing her to dismiss the idea.

"What if what?" Ezra smiled at her still reddening face.

"Nothing," Aria shook her hand to say it didn't matter.

"We need all the ideas we can get," Ezra reasoned.

"It's just," she started. "What if we told them that we used them for," she motioned to the bed they were lying in indicating she was talking about their "activities."

"If you're willing to tell them that, than be my guest," Ezra laughed.

"I'm serious," Aria scolded playfully hitting his chest. "It would make sense for us to hide that too," she added.

Ezra nodded humming quietly as he pulled her closer.

…..

A couple days later Aria sat down at the table she and girls always sat at ready to tell them the "truth" about the gloves. She nervously waited for them to arrive as she picked at the salad she had gotten. She popped a bright red tomato into her mouth and soon spotted Spencer, Emily, and Hannah all walking towards her.

"Hey," Aria said as the 3 girls sat down each with their own lunches.

"We have to talk to you," Spencer breathed as Emily and Hannah nodded in agreement.

"I have to talk to you first," Aria swallowed. "Those gloves didn't have to do with A."

Hannah raised an eyebrow, "Then what do they have to do with," she asked.

"Um," the blush returned to Aria's face as she bowed her head and tried to figure out how to word what she was going to say.

"It's ok Aria, it doesn't matter," Spencer told her. Aria looked up at them and smiled. Maybe they were off the "Ezra is A" train.

"We found something that proves he's A for sure," Spencer finished. Aria's heart sank at the realization they were still convinced Ezra was A.

"Aria we had Caleb look at our phones and the texts came from either Ezra's phone or yours. We think he might be using your phone to send A messages too without you knowing," Hannah explained.

"We need you to look around his apartment more to see if you can find anything else," Emily continued.

"How am I going to do that!" Aria snapped.

"Do it when he's sleeping or out," Hannah suggested.

"And what am I supposed to say when he walks in on me looking through his drawers," Aria retorted. She needed all the reasons she could come up with to not have the girls wanting her to find more A things.

The 3 girls sat in silence not sure how to answer.

"You're the best at lying to the ones closest to you, just make something up," Spencer offered. She knew it was a low blow but if they were close to catching A she would do anything.

Aria glared at Spencer and grabbed her lunch standing up from the table, walking away without another word.

Spencer moved to follow her, but Emily stopped her. "Let's just give her some time," she said.

…

Aria walked over to one of the trashcan's throwing away her meal, her appetite gone. She walked to Ezra's classroom knowing he had this period free.

"Hey," Ezra smiled when he saw her in the doorway.

"Hey," she whimpered.

"Baby, what's wrong," he cooed.

"T-The girls traced the A m-messages back to your phone," Aria sniffled.

Ezra drew in a sharp breath running a hand through his hair.

"How?" was all he said.

"Caleb," she answered.

"I'll…I'll take the blame," he exhaled. "But if I do you have to promise me you'll stop being A…I can't let anything happen to you," he finished.

"What No!" Aria exclaimed. "What about that whole thing of were in this together?"

"I don't know what I would do with myself if you got caught and went to jail or something, so you _have_ to swear to me you'll stop being A," he stressed.

"I can't," she whispered between sobs.

"Maybe, this is the universes way of telling you it's time to forgive them," Ezra proposed.

"They ruined my life," Aria reasoned. "I can't just forget that."

"Just think about it," he said. "I love you."

Aria gave him a weary smile the tears still trickling down her flushed face. Ezra brushed his thumb across her cheekbone before pulling her into his grasp. He embraced her tightly pressing kisses to the top of her head. Aria cried softly into his chest as she clutched onto his dress shirt. High pitched laughs rang thought the hallway though causing them to immediately jump apart.

"See you tonight?" Ezra asked.

Aria nodded before giving a quick peck on the cheek and leaving the classroom.

…

"What if they turn you into the police," Aria asked. She curled closer to Ezra's chest on his leather couch while he wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"If that's what I have to do to keep you safe, then that's what I'll do," he replied.

Aria sat up looking him the eye. "I can't let you do that," she whispered.

"I have to," he stated. "And you have to stop being A."

Aria worried her lip between her white teeth as she continued staring at Ezra.

_Flashback:_

_ "Aria," Alison called. "Did your mom say you can come over?" she asked._

_ Aria nodded her head vigorously and shot her a smile, her front tooth missing._

_ "Good," Alison beamed. "There's some people I want you to meet."_

_ Alison grabbed Aria's hand and let her away from the Montgomery porch leading her to the DiLaurentis's house. Alison brought Aria to her backyard where 3 other 7 year old girls stood._

_ "Aria this is Spencer, Hannah, and Emily," Alison explained as she pointed each one out._

_ The other 3 waved to Aria each sporting their own smile._

_ "I thought we could all be friends," Alison said. "It's always good to have a really tight group of friends."_

_End of Flashback_

Aria tucked a lock of hair behind her ear grimacing at the memory. That summer she lost her best friend. Hannah, Emily, and Spencer had taken Alison from her, and she would never be able to forget that.

"They took her from me," Aria said.

"I know they did," Ezra comforted her. "But can't you try to forgive them."

"I might have been able to," Aria began. "But Alison also told them my biggest secret…and that one has to stay buried."

"Whatever happens I just want to you know I love you ok," Ezra said.

Aria silently conveyed him a message which he understood immediately. He scooped her up from the couch walking over to his bed. They know what tomorrow would hold but a least they could enjoy tonight.

**So that's Chapter 11. You found out why Aria hates the girls and soon you will find out her big secret. Please review it means the world to me! I'll try to update soon!**

**Happy Memorial Day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am so so so so so so sorry for such a long wait for an update! Finals almost killed me and then I just got back from vacation. Good news though is I'll be at home for pretty much the rest of the summer so I can update a ****LOT**** more frequently!**

**Thank you: xTwilightxSparklesx, ninjarazor43, Nabrenda12, YaleAce, SolitudeMyLove, LauralovesPLL, DOOGIE, princessjasmine12, msbookworm93, taylor, Guest, Lax, ducygirrrrrrrrll32, KailaGlass, DiianaMallette, Fallenhope19, and everyone else who read!**

Ezra gently shook Aria awake pressing soft kisses on her shoulder while running his hand though her dark brown hair. Aria hummed contently turning so she could look up at him.

"I already took a shower, so the bathroom's all yours," Ezra said before pecking her one last time on the forehead.

Ezra turned to the mirror next to his closet adjusting the red tie Aria had gotten for him once and buttoned up the cuffs of his dress shirt. Aria shot him a smile in the reflecting glass before heading to Ezra's bathroom. Aria rummaged through the drawer Ezra had given her, searching for a brush. She finally found it and attempted to brush through her unruly tresses before stepping into the shower. She felt the hot water pulsating against her back as she tried to calm her jangled nerves. The girls were now completely convinced Ezra was A and there was no telling what they were planning to do about it. Aria knew she and Ezra had to come up with something fast for both of their sakes. She finished the rest of her shower and turned off the water before stepping out onto the tile.

Aria walked to the mirror grabbing a small hand towel to wipe away the steam. She immediately noticed a dark purple hickey on her neck and knew she'd have to cover it up with make-up. If the girls knew she was still seeing Ezra she'd be sure to get a major scolding on the dangers of kissing "A."

After both Ezra and Aria were all ready they quickly said good-bye before going to their respective cars and driving to school. Aria decided to go to her locker before first period and was surprised when she saw Spencer, Hannah, and Emily crowded around it.

"Hey," Emily smiled once she saw Aria walking towards them.

Aria smiled back as she reached for the black dial putting in her combination.

"We know were still just guessing," Spencer began attempting to somewhat soothe the waters with Aria. "We understand that we still don't know for sure that Ezra's A, and we just want you to know that."

"So?" Aria retorted as she transferred some of her textbooks to her school bag.

"So we were thinking about maybe staging something to really see if he's A or not," Spencer explained.

Aria turned to her and raised her eyebrows urging her to continue.

"We're not sure what we would do yet, but we all feel like we owe it to you to look farther into this."

Aria nodded and agreed before telling them she'd meet up with them after she went to the bathroom. She hurriedly walked into one of the stalls and pulled out her phone. She quickly texted Ezra saying she'd come up with a plan.

E.F.: What is it?

Aria: During class text all of us this message, I'll explain later!

"_Wanna make a deal? 43 Sutton Street. 8:00. Bring the evidence."_

E.F: K!

Aria put her phone back in her purse and made her way to English class. She sat in her usual seat next to Emily nervously shaking her leg. She saw Ezra behind his desk doing what looked like reading a book but Aria saw the small movements of his fingers and she knew he was sending the message.

Almost as if one cue she heard 4 distinct ringtones each muffled by the girl's bags. They all bent down to get their phones and read the text they all knew was from A.

They still had about 4 minutes before the bell rang for classes to start so Spencer made her way over to Aria and Emily signaling Hannah to join them.

"It's perfect," Spencer stated. "Us three can go, and you can stay and watch Ezra," Spencer said motioning to Aria.

They all agreed they would meet up after school to figure out the details before heading back to their seats.

Aria smiled to herself because this was perfect. All she had to do was make sure Ezra didn't show up and then they would be safe from the girls scrutiny.

….

"Ok, so all you need to do is send a picture of yourself to my phone and then I'll send it to the girls after I leave the greenhouse," Aria told Ezra.

"Ok," Ezra replied nodding to himself as he absorbed the new information.

"I love you so much," Aria admitted.

Ezra chuckled, " I love you too."

Aria put her black hood over her hair and listened for any type of noise. She heard footsteps and told Ezra she had to go. Taking one last deep breath Aria walked in between two tables so the girls would be sure to see her.

"Oh my god," Emily breathed. She pointed to the hooded silhouette alerting the other girls to A's presence.

"W-we know who you are," Spencer stuttered.

Aria really didn't want to stay for long and had only planned on making an appearance. This way the girls would think that she really was A, but also that she wasn't Ezra. Aria grabbed a pot nearby throwing it up to the windows. She really didn't care if they got hurt she just wanted to get out of there. She heard their shrill screams and saw them duck as she hastily ran out of the glass shed. She ran to her awaiting car driving off to Ezra's.

"They're gone," Spencer yelled as she attempted to run after the unknown character. "We barely even got a glimpse of them."

"Spence it's ok," Emily tried to comfort her.

"No it's not, because if that wasn't Ezra, then were right back at the beginning," Spencer huffed.

….

Aria pulled off on the side of the road quickly shedding all her A garments. She grabbed her phone and looked for Ezra's message smiling when she saw it. She sent the picture of him to the girls saying how he'd been with her all along.

She continued driving to Ezra's and practically ran up the stairs to his apartment. He opened the door right away to her knocks and pulled her into his embrace.

"We did it," she said pressing a kiss to his chest.

"A always does it," he smiled.

**I know its short but next chapter will be a lot longer I promise. And if I get enough reviews I will update tomorrow!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you! : YaleAce, princessjasmine12, OnlyTheYoung, SolitudeMyLove, theilluminatidreamteam, Lax, TheDazza, LauralovesPLL, Guest, EmilySpencerlovesonedirection, Guest, beverlie4055, pinkcrazyness, KailaGlass, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, msbookworm93, Prettylittlefan, Guest**

Ezra hoisted Aria up by her thighs, gripping them tightly as he stumbled backwards to his couch. He sat down with Aria still entangled around him his lips immediately finding hers. Aria traced her hands along Ezra's neck finally settling them in the back of his shirt. She smiled against his lips as Ezra traced circles along her lower back making her whole body tingle.

A familiar tone played throughout the apartment, one Aria knew to be her phone. She groaned as Ezra mumbled for her to just leave it.

"It might be the girls," she sighed as she disappointedly moved off his lap to go to her purse. She reached for her ringing phone and pressed the green call button as she settled herself back next to Ezra on the couch. Ezra placed an arm around her waist and turned the TV on making sure to mute it.

"Hello?" Aria said.

"Aria, its Spencer," the other voice clarified. "We got your message."

"So did anyone show up?" Aria asked feigning ignorance and concern.

"Yeah, Aria we saw A," Spencer breathed. "They were there for like 2 seconds and then they threw a pot on the ceiling and made glass fall everywhere," Spencer explained.

"Oh my god," Aria replied. "Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah luckily none of us got really hurt but now we don't have any idea who A could be because they left so fast."

"Well it couldn't have been Ezra he was with me all night," Aria pointed out as she shot him a smile next to her. Ezra squeezed her knee in response giving her a smile back.

"Are you sure you didn't see Ezra call anyone or anything?" Spencer hopefully wondered.

"Nope," Aria responded. "We sat and watched a movie all night…A probably planted that evidence on me and Ezra's phones knowing you guys would look into it," Aria offered.

She heard Spencer sigh on the other end as she agreed that that's probably what happened.

"We're all really sorry Aria, we know how hard it must have been when we were accusing Ezra of being A," Spencer murmured.

"It's fine," Aria assured her. "As long as you're off Ezra is A for good?"

"Yes we are," Spencer laughed.

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Aria said.

"Yeah I'll call you."

They each said goodbye before Aria hung up and looked to Ezra.

"We're good," she grinned.

Ezra chuckled pulling her closer so that she was practically on his lap again as they resumed their heated make-out session. Ezra slid his tongue into Aria's awaiting mouth while Aria played with the baby hairs at the nape of Ezra's neck. Ezra found Aria's hands and linked his with hers as his lips trailed across her cheek. Aria giggled when Ezra reached her ear, his teeth tickling her.

Aria's phone, now completely forgotten and somewhere in the couch cushions beeped again signaling another call.

Ezra grunted as Aria gave him another apologetic look as she went to see who was calling her.

"It's my mother," she grumbled.

"Hey mom," Aria said.

"Are you coming home soon?" Ella asked.

"Yeah me and the girls are just finishing up some homework," Aria made up as she leaned against Ezra's shoulder. She absentmindedly played with his fingers while she waited for her mother to respond.

"Ok, well I just got off the phone with Spencer's mother and I guess the police might do some questioning tonight on that sweater they found. I think you should probably come home pretty soon," Ella suggested.

"But it's already 8:30, isn't that kind of late," Aria asked.

"Honey, there the police, they can do whatever they want," Ella pointed out. "I just think that if they do come you need to be home."

"Fine," Aria agreed. "I'll be home soon."

"Ok, bye. I love you."

Aria hung up her phone and turned around to throw it into her purse when she felt Ezra's lips at her shoulder. He pressed soft kisses up her neck sweeping her hair out of the way as he went along."

"I have to go," Aria informed him as she gave him another apologetic look.

"You're really going to kiss me like that and then leave?" Ezra droned.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," Aria assured him. She gave him a quick peck on his forehead and brushed his curls out of his eyes. "My mom said the police might come to question me and the girls tonight, so I can't really get out of this one."

"Do you know what you're going to say?" Ezra looked at her worriedly bringing her hand to rest in his.

"I'll just tell them I knew nothing about it," Aria informed him. "I'm sure the other girls will say something similar."

Ezra nodded and gave her one last kiss on the lips before reminding her she owed him. Aria laughed and blew him a kiss before leaving his apartment. It took about 20 minutes to get back to her house, and when she reached her street she could already see flashing police lights. She groaned hoping that they may have thought it was too late and would have decided to come tomorrow. She pulled into her driveway and saw Detective Wilden in her doorway. She knew he had to be the reason they were questioning her so late considering he was pretty ruthless when it came to accusing her and the girls.

Aria shut off her car and took a deep breath mentally preparing herself for the interrogation that was sure to come. She walked up to her porch to where Wilden was standing and saw her mother on the other side.

"Aria," he smiled. "Just the person I was looking for."

Aria looked at him before walking into her house followed closely by Wilden and her mother.

"We just have a couple questions for you regarding Alison's murder," he explained.

The three of them sat down in the living room her mother and Aria on one couch and Wilden on the other.

"Can I ask where you were tonight?" he began.

"What does that have to do with anything," Aria asked, giving him a quizzical expression.

"Just routine," he replied.

"I was with the girls," Aria stated. She glanced over at her mother who gave her a comforting smile before Wilden looked up from his notepad.

"The girls as in Emily, Hannah, and Spencer?" he clarified.

Aria nodded her head while Detective Wilden began to grin.

"You know Aria you really used to be a much better liar. I was just over there and you definitely weren't with them."

Aria's breath hitched in throat as she scolded her self for being so stupid. She looked to her mother not knowing what else to say and how she could cover this up. Ella seeing her distraught face decided to step in, figuring she would deal with her daughter's lie later.

"Detective Wilden, I really don't see what this has to do with Alison's murder investigation and I'd appreciate it if we could just stick to that," Ella recommended.

"Just doing my job," he responded.

The rest of the questions dealt with Alison's sweater and if Aria had ever seen Ali wear it and if she had any information on it. Aria explained how she knew nothing about it and had never seen it in her life before. The Rosewood police asked her a few more questions and soon they left the Montgomery house.

Ella was just shutting the door behind them before she turned to stare at her daughter.

"Aria," she murmured. "Why can't you tell me where you keep going?"

Aria shut her eyes this time really not knowing what to say. Maybe it was time to tell her about Ezra, but who knew how she would react.

"Please tell me you're not out drinking or on drugs," Ella whimpered tears cascading down her cheeks.

"No," Aria said as she shook her head.

"Are you out seeing a boy or something?" Ella sniffled.

Aria looked at the floor stepping on the side of her shoe with her other heal. She looked up at her mother and nodded deciding it was the safest thing to do. She figured she wouldn't have to tell her mother who it was just yet and this way she wouldn't try to investigate as to what Aria was doing.

"Why couldn't you tell me?" Ella asked. She walked closer to Aria and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear taking her daughters hands in hers.

"It's private right now," Aria admitted. This was somewhat true, her and Ezra's relationship was very private and only her and the girls knew about it.

"Well I'm glad you told me," Ella smiled. She gave Aria a hug patting down her dark brown hair before giving her kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, Aria."

"I love you to mom." Aria turned to walk to her bedroom glad that this night could finally be over. She pulled out her phone to tell Ezra the questioning went fine knowing her wouldn't be able to sleep if he was worrying about her.

Aria had almost told her mom about Ezra and she wondered if it was time. The girls had all had relationship troubles because of A and if Aria's was smooth sailing she knew it would look suspicious. Her and Ezra had talked about telling her parents but it had never happened due to cold feet and worrisome thoughts. She knew besides being completely heartbroken if her parents refused to let her see Ezra she also wouldn't be able to be A. She couldn't do it on her own and needed him as her partner. She saw her phone light up and looked down at the message he sent her. He said he was glad it went well and loved her and to have a good night. She smiled to herself before replying back something similar and heading for her bed.

**Please review! New chapter up soon!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm really sorry for the long wait! I'm going to update tomorrow, no matter what, to make up for it!**

**Thank you soooo much to: beverlie4055, Guest, YaleAce, LauralovesPLL, CheyeM1287, princessjasmine12, theilluminatidreamteam, msbookworm93, Iluvonelife, Guest, Guest, Guest**

**Also, I just got a twitter, so you guys should follow me, I'll follow back! It's hidingmyheart10**

Aria woke up with a pounding headache having gotten almost no sleep last night. Images of Ezra being taken to jail, and her parents forbidding her to see him clouded her mind not letting her rest. She knew she would have to tell her parents about Ezra for the sake of keeping A's identity a secret. She didn't want the girls digging for anymore answers and groaned as she realized what she had to do today. She hadn't talked to Ezra yet and knew they needed to plan this out strategically. She was mostly worried about her dad, knowing how protective he was, and needed to make sure they went about this the right way.

Aria reached for her phone and quickly sent him a text asking if she could come over. She was so thankful it was a Saturday and she didn't have to deal with school stress on top of this as she waited for Ezra to reply. She soon got a message back saying "of course" and took that as her cue to get ready. She took a quick shower before pulling on a pair of black jeans and black wedges with a white lacy top. She grabbed her purse and phone and walked down the stairs.

"Hey honey," Ella greeted her as she brought a cup of coffee to her lips. "Are you going out?"

Aria nodded, not sure if she should tell her mom she was going to see this boy that still remained nameless or just tell her she was hanging out with the girls. She decided to go with the latter figuring you could never be too safe.

"I'm gonna go to Spencer's house," Aria explained. She bit her lip and adjusted her purse as her mother gave her a weary expression.

"Are you really going to Spencer's house?" Ella asked. "No more secrets remember?"

"No, I really am this time," Aria assured her.

"Ok well have fun," Ella smiled as Aria grabbed her keys.

"Thanks," Aria called out as she left her house making her way to her car.

The second she hit the leather seating she pulled out her phone quickly dialing Spencer's number.

"Hello," she heard Spencer say.

"Hey Spence," Aria said. "Can you be my alibi?"

"Sure," Spencer replied. "You going to see Fitz?" she chuckled.

"Yeah," Aria murmured.

"You okay," Spencer asked. Aria was usually on cloud nine when it came to visiting her boyfriend, so Aria's attitude was extremely unusual.

"A's making me tell my parents about me and Ezra," Aria confessed. Even though she was the one that brought this on, Aria couldn't help the tear that escaped her eye. She knew she had to do this but if she ever lost Ezra it would completely devastate her.

"Oh my god," Spencer breathed. "You're telling them today?"

"Yeah," Aria whimpered as she brushed the tears from her cheek.

"Just tell them the truth about how you met," Spencer offered. "I'm sure it will be ok."

"I hope," Aria exhaled. "I'm gonna go talk to Ezra now, so if my mom calls, I'm with you ok?"

"Sure," Spencer confirmed. "…I hope it works out."

"Thanks," Aria smiled before the two said goodbye and Aria hung up. She put her keys in the ignition and started up her car before driving towards Ezra's apartment. As hard as she tried the tears kept falling and loud sobs escaped her throat. Just the idea of not spending the rest of her life with Ezra almost sent her into a panic attack as she continued her drive.

She finally made it to the dark green door marked 3B, not even bothering to clean up her appearance.

When Ezra opened the door his heart almost broke at the sight of his girlfriend standing there with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her makeup smudged across her eyes.

"Aria," he cooed. This only made her erupt into another bout of cries confusing Ezra further. He enclosed her tightly in his grip placing soft kisses to her head. His hand rose and fell along her back while she fisted his shirt in her hands.

'Do you want come inside," he whispered into her ear.

She nodded and took his hand as he led them into his apartment.

"W-We have to tell my parents about us today," She blurted out.

A flash of worry graced his features but he quickly composed himself not wanting Aria to worry even further.

"The girls will know something is up if A doesn't try to ruin us soon," Aria explained.

"Are you sure," Ezra asked. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear before he took her hands in his.

"What if I lose you?" Aria swallowed. Her eyes down casted as she took in a shaky breath.

"You won't," Ezra stated. "I'll always find a way to be with you. And besides you're almost eighteen and then we can be together forever."

"I love you," Aria gave him a teary smile.

Ezra smiled back before leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.

…

"Ezra, Aria what are you guys doing here," Ella wondered as she walked down the stairs to find them.

"Is dad here?" Aria asked.

"Byron," Ella called out. Moments later footsteps could be heard and Byron appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Ezra what are you doing here?" Byron went to shake Ezra's before going to stand by his wife.

"I think you two should sit down," Aria suggested. Her parents gave her odd looks but complied anyway going to sit on the leather couch.

"We wanted to tell you something," Aria began. She looked over nervously at Ezra her lip trembling between her white teeth.

"I…I'm in love with your daughter," Ezra murmured. When the two Montgomery's parents didn't speak or move Ezra said more confidently, "I love Aria."

"We met about a month before Ali went missing. We lost touch after I went to Iceland, but when I came back he was my English teacher," Aria clarified.

"And you thought it was ok to carry it on?" Byron practically yelled. He stood up from his seat while Ella placed her hand on his arm attempting to calm him down.

"Dad, I love him," Aria stated. She grabbed Ezra's hand as if to prove her point. "I can't stay away from him."

"Aria he's your teacher," Ella reasoned.

"I know," Aria mumbled. "But it doesn't change the way I feel about him."

"You need to stay far away from this family," Byron muttered. Aria could see a vein popping in his neck and his fists clamped tightly at his sides.

"Dad that's not fai-"

"Aria go upstairs," Byron demanded.

"No I'm staying right here," Aria said. She stepped closer to Ezra figuring her dad wouldn't kill him if she was there.

"Ezra, I won't hesitate to call the police," Byron admitted.

Ezra swallowed. He wanted to try and explain himself but the look in Byron's eyes kept him quiet.

"Maybe I should go," Ezra said looking at Aria.

Aria nodded figuring it would be best for Ezra's sake. She kissed him quickly on the cheek ignoring the fuming glare her father was sporting and watched as he left her house.

"I will never forgive you for this," Aria spat out. She shook her head at her father before running up to her room. She slammed the door and walked to her bed screaming into the duvet. She got up to look for her phone only to realize she had left it downstairs.

She looked around the railing and saw her phone lying on her purse which was lying on one of the living room chairs. She walked to get it but her father beat her to it.

"You won't be getting this back for a long time," Byron said. He walked back over to the kitchen to where her mother was standing.

Aria furiously wiped the tears cascading down her cheeks retreating back to her room. Everything was going wrong and she couldn't do anything about it. She was separated from the love of her life and now without a phone or contact with Ezra A couldn't function either.

**Hope you guys like it! New chapter tomorrow! Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's chapter 15! **

**I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, so please, please review!**

**Thank you: princessjasmine12, beverlie4055, Nabrenda12, YaleAce, SpobyForever1106, Mittenzs, Guest, theilluminatidreamteam**

Aria laid in her bed, eyes fresh with new tears, her face buried in a pillow. She'd been in this position ever since her and Ezra came out to her parents and had only gotten up a couple times to go to the bathroom. Her mother tried to bring Aria food at every chance she could but all Aria did was reject it and return to her covers.

Sunday went by extremely slow as Aria anxiously awaited Monday. Even though her and Ezra couldn't really talk they would be able to see each other at school. A soft knock sounded at her door and she heard her father's voice ask if he could come in. Aria didn't answer and just sat there as her father opened the door.

"Dinner's ready," he said. He couldn't help but notice the look in Aria's eyes as if a part of her had died but he quickly pushed away those feelings reminding himself Ezra was nothing but a scumbag looking to get close to a teenager.

"I'm not hungry," Aria mumbled. Her voice sounded strained and sore from all the crying she had done. She turned away from her father facing the wall pulling her covers closer to her body.

"Well, you need to eat," Byron responded. "Your mother and I would like it if you came downstairs."

Aria shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath not moving from where she was.

A pained look crossed Byron's face seeing his daughter so distraught, but figured she had to learn her lesson. She knew better than anyone that his student teacher relationship almost tore apart their family so he couldn't put it through his head why she would be doing this. He cleared his throat before shutting her door returning to Ella and Mike.

….

Aria opened her eyes to pitch darkness and looked around her room realizing it was nighttime. She figured she must have fell asleep when she saw it was almost twelve. She listened carefully and heard no sounds from downstairs and concluded that everyone had gone to sleep. She really was starving so while no one was up she decided to get a quick midnight snack.

She slowly got up from her bed and heard her knees crack from being curled up in bed all day. She quietly padded across her room and went to open her door only to run into someone else. She instinctively went to yelp but a hand covered her mouth urging her back into her room.

"Be quiet," the figure said. Aria opened her eyes which she hadn't even realized she shut and saw Mike standing before her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aria whispered.

"Helping you," Mike replied. Aria gave him a confused look before Mike pulled out his cell phone.

"Mom and Dad are asleep, you can call him," Mike clarified. Aria gave her brother a grateful smile and pulled him in for a hug burying her face in his shoulder.

"I've heard you talking on the phone with him a couple times and two people that love each other that much should be together," Mike told her.

Aria pulled back and gave her brother another grin before taking his phone. She dialed the familiar number and heard it ringing before the line picked up.

"Hello."

"Ezra," Aria breathed.

"Aria?" he wondered.

"Mike let me borrow his phone," Aria explained. She gripped the phone tighter the sound of his voice making her heart swell the tiniest bit. "It's so nice to hear your voice."

"I know," he murmured. "But you shouldn't be calling here." The phrase almost broke Ezra as he said it but he knew it would be better for both their sakes if they weren't in contact right now.

Aria took in a sharp breath and bit her lip as his words registered.

"Ezra," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry," he exhaled before hanging up on his end.

Aria brought the phone down from her ear trying to prevent more tears from coming. She was to no avail though as her face once again scrunched up and salty drops fell from her eyes. Mike brought his sister closer and gave her a tight hug rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"I'm so sorry," he stressed.

Aria gave him a weary smile before Mike pulled her back letting her tears soak his shirt.

…

The beeping of Aria's alarm clock echoed throughout her room waking her up. Aria dragged herself out of bed her stomach a bundle of nerves. She was praying to get some time to talk to Ezra and convince him that everything would eventually work out and to not give up on them.

She quickly took and shower, got dressed, and put on her makeup before walking down the stairs. She intended to grab her keys and get in her car with no interaction from her parents but her dad stopped her before she could reach the door.

"You're going to be driving in with your mother," Byron informed her.

"Seriously?" Aria exclaimed.

Ella gave her a look that said "don't push your father" and grabbed her own keys and walked out the door, Aria following dejectedly behind.

"Today is not the day to have an attitude, Aria," Ella stressed. She walked to her car opening the door giving Aria a stern look.

"I just didn't think you guys would be so extreme," Aria muttered as she too sat in the car.

"Dating your English teacher is extreme, we are being parents," Ella said.

The rest of the car ride was silent as Ella drove them to the school. When they finally arrived and the car was shut off, Aria practically leapt out of the car and hurriedly walked into the building. She didn't think she could stand being around her mother for any longer and she wanted to see if she would be able to talk to Ezra before school started.

Aria quickly paced to Ezra's classroom surprised when she instead found a woman writing notes on the chalkboard.

"Do you know where Mr. Fitz is?" Aria asked.

"I don't, sorry. I'm just the sub," the woman told her.

Aria looked to Ezra's desk and saw the sub's bags her heart almost breaking. She didn't know if Ezra was avoiding her or what, but all she could think about was seeing him again.

"Do you know when he'll be back," Aria practically choked out.

"No, I don't. Is there something I can help you with," the sub wondered.

Aria shook her head and went to take her seat putting her hands over her face. Soon the bell rang and students began filing in. Spencer, Hannah, and Emily immediately saw Aria's sorrowful expression and went to ask her how she was.

"My parents freaked out, and now Ezra's ignoring me too," Aria explained. She bit her lip willing the tears to stop almost drawing blood.

"I'm so sorry," Spencer whispered. Aria thanked them, the final bell preventing any more discussion.

…

The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Aria, and she couldn't focus on any of her classes. The last bell of the day finally rang and Aria quickly walked to her mother's classroom.

"Aria, I was just going to get you," Ella began. "Turns out I have to stay late and do some grading."

"You're my ride home," Aria pointed out. She gave her mother a quizzical look not sure what she was expecting to do.

"I know, I was thinking this would be a good time to get your homework done," Ella suggested.

"Mom, that's not fair," Aria exclaimed.

"We were lied to for a really long time, not just by our daughter, but by my colleague. Do you think that's fair?" Ella challenged.

Aria sighed going to sit at a desk not wanting to argue anymore. She pulled out some notebook and pretended to be doing work but was really just doodling absentmindedly.

Aria heard shuffling in the hallway wondering who else was still here. She looked up and saw the back of head covered with black locks. Her breath hitched in her throat as she recognized who it was.

_Ezra_.

"Mom, I'm going to the bathroom," Aria blurted out. Before her mother even had time to respond she was out the door following the figure.

Ezra stopped in front of his classroom taking a deep breath as he walked in. He needed to gather some paperwork from his desk. He shut the door to his classroom and walked to the wooden table confused when he heard the door reopen.

He spun around and saw Aria standing there her eyes full of hurt. Aria knew the tears were coming and she did nothing to stop them. She wanted Ezra to see how upset she was that he was giving up on them so easy.

Ezra saw the drops of water begin to fall from her eyes and new he was done for. His own eyes began to water a little as he walked over to the small trembling girl. He pulled her in for a hug kissing the top of her head.

No words needed to be spoken as they stood there together in that moment. Ezra swayed them slightly continuing to kiss her. Aria had her face buried in his shirt inhaling the cologne that she had so dearly missed.

They both knew this served as an apology for everything that had went down the past few days and all they could do now was hope things would get better.

**Please review! I'll update soon, if I get more!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you! : Jules003, YaleAce, Alison, beverlie4055, xtremedancer, CheyeM1287, LauralovesPLL, princessjasmine12, lax, Cece, Guest, MissIrine, theilluminatidreamteam**

**lax- Aria hates the girls because they took Alison away from her, it's in a previous chapter!**

**Cece- It's coming!**

**Chapter 15**

"Aria, how's this going to work," Ezra mumbled against her hair. He didn't want to ruin the moment but he knew they had to be realistic.

Aria shrugged her shoulders looking up at him. "All I know is that I can't live without you," she whispered. She grazed her hand along his cheekbone as he leaned into her palm.

"So we go back to hiding?" he asked.

"There's no other choice," Aria said. Ezra nodded pulling Aria closer, missing her touch even if it had been only a couple of days.

"For the record I couldn't imagine my life without you either," Ezra admitted. Aria smiled up at him pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Ezra pushed his tongue against her teeth causing her to grant him access to her mouth. Their mouth's collided even harder in a fit of passion, both of them feeling deprived of this intimacy they had longed for. Aria fisted Ezra's hair in her hands while Ezra held her hips firmly. His fingers crept toward the hem of her shirt tracing the soft skin under the material. Aria hummed but pulled away disappointedly.

"As much as I would love to continue, I told my mom I went to the bathroom and she's probably wondering where I am," Aria explained. Ezra sighed fixing Aria's shirt which had gotten twisted up, lightly kissing her forehead.

"Can I call you tonight?" Ezra wondered.

"My parents took my phone away, but I'm sure Mike will let me use his," Aria told him. Ezra smiled giving Aria one last kiss on the lips before she walked out the door.

Aria quickly walked to her mother's classroom trying to make up for lost time. She returned to the desk she was sitting at continuing to draw in her notebook.

….

The tension in the room that night at dinner was practically tangible as the four Montgomery's sat in silence.

"How was school Aria," Byron asked, attempting to make some sort of conversation.

"He wasn't there today if that's what you're wondering," Aria snapped. Byron cleared his throat while everyone else just sifted awkwardly in their chairs.

Aria sighed picking up her plate throwing the remnants of her meal into the trash.

"I'm not really hungry anymore," Aria mumbled. She put her plate in the dishwasher before walking up the stairs to her room. She could faintly hear some muffled voices as she buried her face in her pillow. She reached over to her window seat pulling out Winesburg, Ohio. She smiled as she saw Ezra's messy writing in the front cover, tracing over it with her pointer finger.

"Byron, forcing him away is not going to solve anything," Aria heard Ella say. Aria leapt up from her bed going to press her ear against her door.

"Ella, that man needs to stay as far away from our daughter as possible, and do you really trust that he will if they see each other every weekday?" Byron shot back.

"And when she runs away or elopes? Then what?" Ella asked.

Aria heard footsteps and a door shut assuming her parents went into their room. She went to sit back on her bed before later she heard a knock at her door and Mike asking if he could come in.

"Yep," Aria called. Mike opened the door going to sit by Aria on her bed.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you," Mike murmured.

Aria gave him a hug thanking him for being so supportive throughout this.

"Do you want to call him?" Mike chuckled seeing Aria already eyeing his phone.

"Thank you," Aria smiled. Mike handed her his cellphone getting up to leave her room.

"I'll knock on your door, if I hear mom and dad coming," Mike told her before disappearing into the hallway.

Aria clutched the phone tightly to her ear waiting for Ezra to pick up. He did soon, Aria's heart swelling at hearing his voice.

"Hey, it's me," Aria said.

"Hey!" Aria could practically hear the smile in his voice as he became aware of who it was.

"I miss you," Aria sighed.

"I miss you more_,_" Ezra countered. Aria giggled at Ezra's competitiveness, and how he always had to make it known he loved her more.

"You'll never guess what I got in the mail today," Ezra said.

"What?" Aria wondered.

"The Hollis satellite school in Louisiana sent me a job offer," Ezra clarified.

"Why is that a surprise? Any school would be extremely lucky to have you," Aria assured.

Ezra laughed, "You think way too highly of me." Aria rolled her eyes her own smile spreading across her face.

"I was just surprised they even knew who I was," Ezra explained. "The only way they would is if someone recommended me."

Aria inhaled sharply as she realized just how perfectly the timing of this job offer was and recalled her mother and father's conversation.

"Ezra, I think that person who recommended you was my dad," Aria breathed.

Ezra's end was silent as he comprehended how this is exactly the kind of thing Byron would do.

"Can we talk about something else," Aria asked. All this conversation about her father was making her really stressed out and she wanted to savor the time she had with Ezra.

"Of course," he responded.

"We should probably send some new A messages soon," Aria pointed out. "We haven't really sent any for a while."

"I can do one after we talk," Ezra offered. "What do you want me to say?"

Aria tapped her knee trying to think of some cryptic phrase. "Say 'the truth always comes out one way or another, just look at Aria and Ezra. Watch out Bitches, your secrets may be next'," Aria finished.

"Sounds perfect," Ezra chuckled.

…

Spencer and Emily's phones beeped simultaneously on Spencer's bed the two girls sighing.

"The truth always comes out one way or another, just look at Aria and Ezra," Emily read out loud.

"Watch out bitches, your secrets may be next," Spencer mumbled.

"Will this ever stop?" Emily groaned. She fell back onto Spencer's bed looking over to Spencer.

"I still think Ezra might be A," Spencer admitted.

"What? Why?" Emily asked immediately sitting up.

"I don't know, it's just everything pointed to him and I think we were too quick to say it's not him," Spencer explained.

"Yeah, but he was with Aria when we saw A," Emily said confused.

Spencer nodded, "I know." She looked down before looking back to Emily a worried look on her face. "I think maybe Aria's protecting him," she admitted.

Emily swallowed fear etched across her features as she looked at Spencer.

**I know this is a super short chapter, but the next one will be a lot longer, I promise!**

**I think I'm going to have the girls find out soon, but I have a couple scenarios I'm deciding between about what will happen after. If you guys have any ideas, I would love to hear them!**

**Also, I was wondering if you guys would be interested in a chapter or two that's a flashback to how Aria and Ezra met with Ali still alive and how they first became A.**

**Please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	17. Chapter 17

**This is the flashback chapter that so many of you requested! It's almost 3,000 words which is why it took me so long to update!**

**Thank you to TheDazza and LauralovesPLL for your ideas! I loved them and am definitely going to incorporate them!**

**Thank you to: CheyeM1287, Nabrenda12, LauralovesPLL, Guest, YaleAce, beverlie4055, DestaniThomas, princessjasmine12, Guest, theilluminatidreamteam for your reviews! **

**Also DestaniThomas, I threw in an M scene for you at the end! ;)**

**Chapter 17!**

Aria leaned back on her bed having just finished her phone conversation with Ezra. She missed him so much and not being able to see him practically killed her. She reached underneath her mattress until her hand found the small hard circle she had been looking for. She pulled out a cup coaster with the word Snookers written across it in big red letters. She knew it was sort of childish to have stolen this but it had been a day she didn't want to forget. She was glad she had kept this small souvenir though because times when she couldn't see Ezra it reminded her of all the great memories they had had when they first got to know each other.

_"A bar?" Spencer asked. She raised her eyes at Alison who just gave her a smirk._

_ "I know the owner, and he said he would look the other way if we happened to want a drink," Alison smiled._

_ "What if we get caught?" Hannah murmured._

_ Alison rolled her eyes, "Come on guys, this is supposed to be the best summer ever, and that's certainly not going to happen if we don't take some risks." Alison began walking ahead tagging Aria and Emily along with her. Spencer and Hannah followed close behind as they all walked into Snookers Bar and Grille._

_ "Hey!" A man behind the counter called out. He smiled at Alison who gave him a flirty grin and wave back._

_ "These your friends?" he asked. Alison nodded introducing each of them to the man behind the counter named Steve. _

_ "I'm gonna head over there," Alison motioned her head over towards a group of guys obviously eyeing her. "Have fun," she grinned._

_ Hannah and Emily ended up going over to a pool table while Spencer went to check out the announcement board. She was always looking for volunteer work to boost her resume. _

_Aria looked around nervously not sure what to do before finally deciding to just sit at the bar._

_"You want something to drink?" Steve asked. Aria bit her lip unsure if she should actually take up this guy's offer to allow her to get alcohol. _

_"She'll take a gin and tonic on the rocks," Alison told him coming to stand by Aria. _

_"You got it," Steve called out before disappearing behind a shelf of bottles._

_"It'll help you relax," Alison whispered in Arias ear her hand on her shoulder._

_Aria gave her an appreciative smile as Steve set the glass in front of her. _

_"It's on the house," Steve said as he watched Aria reach for her purse. _

_Alison gave him a wink silently thanking him to which Steve returned before he went to help another customer out._

_Alison walked off again to the older boys who were now calling her name to come back. Aria looked at the glass in front of her timidly taking a sip. Her face scrunched together at the taste and she ended up spitting it back into her glass. _

_She heard a soft chuckle to the right of her and looked over to see a guy smiling at her._

"_You ok down there," he laughed._

_Aria blushed looking down at her drink again. "I don't drink often," she explained. The guy grabbed his book and drink going to sit to the seat right next to her. _

"_Yeah, after 3 years of college parties I think I'm going to start to tone it down too," he said. "Well after this," he laughed holding up the beer next to him._

_Aria giggled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. _

"_So do you go to Hollis," she asked. _

_The man nodded, "It's my last year," he said._

_Aria was tempted to tell this guy that she had only just finished her freshman year of high school but decided against it. This was supposed to be the best summer ever, and like Alison had explained you couldn't do that without taking some risks._

"_I'm in college too," Aria announced. The guy grinned at her before taking a sip from his glass._

"_What's your major?" he wondered. _

"_English," she stated. Aria hoped he wouldn't notice her lying but it was sort of true. She did want to major in English when she did eventually get to college._

"_Me too," the guy exclaimed. _

"_And I write too, but so far it's mostly personal, just for me," Aria said._

_The guys raised his eyebrows," I'm impressed."_

"_Why?" Aria laughed._

"_If you're writing for yourself it's pure passion."_

_The guy slid closer to Aria their faces mere inches away. _

"_I love this song," Aria murmured as the jukebox began to play Happiness by the Fray._

"_B26," he whispered. Aria smiled before her lips were met with this guy who she'd only just met. She found herself kissing back though as his hand reached for hers. He pulled back and tugged on her hand signaling for her to follow him. They walked to the end of the bar near the restrooms quickly going into the woman's one. Aria locked the door behind her before the man picked her up and placed her on the bathroom counter. Aria giggled wrapping her legs around this guy's torso. _

"_I'm Aria by the way."_

"_Ezra," he replied. Aria pulled his face towards hers feeling a new sense of confidence. Their tongues tangled together as Aria gripped Ezra's jet black hair in between her small fingers. Ezra trailed his fingers along her lower back absentmindedly drawing circles. Aria brought her hand back to lean on only to turn on the faucet. Ezra chuckled and turned it off looking into Aria's eyes._

"_You're really beautiful," he breathed. He curled a piece of her dark brown locks behind her ear before softly kissing her forehead._

_Aria didn't want the moment to end but her friends were probably wondering where she was. She reluctantly scooted off the bathroom counter indicating she had to go._

"_My friends are probably wondering where I am," she explained._

_Ezra nodded, disappointment clearly written across his face._

_ "Can I see you again," he hopefully asked. Aria inhaled not sure how to respond. Of course she wanted to see this amazing guy again, but she'd lied to him about her age and when he found out how old she really was there was no way he would still want to see her anymore._

_ "I'm not sure that's a good idea," Aria admitted. She could see hurt flash across Ezra's face and it pained her to know she was the one who had caused that._

_ "I understand," he mumbled._

_ "Sorry," Aria whispered before leaving the restroom. She saw Alison and the other girls standing near the exit and figured they were waiting for her._

_ "Way to go Aria," Alison smiled when she reached them. Aria rolled her eyes before following the group out the door. _

"_I saved this for you," Alison told her handing her a coaster. "It'll always remind you of today," she explained. _

_Aria thanked her and put the coaster in her back pocket before linking arms with Alison and Spencer._

1 week later

_Aria turned the box of cereal around in her hands reading the ingredients. She decided to put it back though sticking to her summer resolution of becoming a little healthier._

_ "Aria?"_

_ Aria would have recognized the voice anywhere. The low honey- like voice that made her heart swell. She nervously turned around and was met with Ezra carrying his own grocery basket._

_ "Hey," she said. She looked down and picked at her nail polish not wanting to meet Ezra's eyes._

_ "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," Ezra blurted out. He ran a hand through his messy hair stepping closer to Aria._

_ Aria exhaled stepping back, away from Ezra. "This can never work," Aria confessed. _

_ "Why?" Ezra asked. He stepped closer to Aria again and this time she didn't move back._

_ "I just finished my freshmen year of high school," Aria whispered._

_ Aria could tell Ezra had heard her, by the look on his face. She couldn't quite pinpoint what his expression said but at least he didn't look angry._

_ Suddenly Ezra's lips were on her and his hands were in her hair. He continued to kiss her, his hands trailing down her arms to grasp her hands in his._

_ "W-Why did you just do that?" Aria stammered, pushing her hair out of her face._

_ "Because if I'm going to take a chance on you, I want to make sure this," he motioned between the two of them, "is real."_

_ "Is it?" she murmured._

_ Ezra laughed nodding his head. "I don't know what it is about you Aria, but I haven't been able to think about anything else since we met."_

_ Aria brought Ezra's face down giving him another peck before she heard her name being called. Her father appeared at the end of the aisle and Aria gave Ezra a quick wave goodbye before following her family._

Aria smiled to herself at the memory. After that her and Ezra had dated for pretty much the whole summer. She spent countless nights at his apartments always having one of the girls covering for her. She looked across her room at one of Ezra's shirts she had stolen when she had slept over one night.

_"You excited for school?" Ezra wondered. He pulled Aria tighter against his chest as they laid together on his bed._

_ "Not really," Aria replied. "Are you?"_

_ "I'm not looking forward to going to class, but I'm glad this is my last year at Hollis." Ezra buried his head in Aria's hair pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. _

_ "You look really sexy in my shirt," Ezra leaned in close to Aria's ear. Aria giggled and turned around to kiss Ezra. Their tongues fought for dominance while their legs tangled together beneath the sheets._

_ "I think I love you," Ezra stated. Aria looked up at him seeing nothing but sincerity._

_ "Was that too soon?" he quickly asked. He ran a hand over his face a light pink tinting his cheeks._

_ "No," Aria assured him. She peeled his hand away from his face kissing him lightly on the lips. "I think I might love you too."_

That was one of Aria's favorite memories because it was the first time she really realized just how special Ezra was to her. She _loved_ him and he _loved_ her back. It was the first time she realized she would never leave Ezra for anything, and his own commitment to their relationship was proved a couple of weeks later.

_"Aria, I've been calling you," Ezra told her while Aria stood outside his apartment almost in tears._

_ "I know," she breathed. "I've been avoiding you."_

_ "Why?" Ezra asked. He brought his hands to rest on Aria's shoulders encouraging her to come in. She reluctantly complied and walked in her arms wrapped tightly around herself._

_ "Because I know that after what I'm about to tell you, there's a chance that you'll never look at me the same again," she whimpered. _

_ "Aria," Ezra cooed. He enclosed her in a tight hug before leading her over to the couch._

…

_ "I'm telling you this because I love you and I don't want there to be any secrets between us," Aria began. Ezra nodded urging her to continue. _

_ "For a while now I've been blackmailing my friend Alison anonymously," Aria managed to get out between sobs. "I'll understand if you never want to see me again, I just wanted to tell you before you found out yourself."_

_ Ezra pulled Aria onto his lap kissing her temple. "I'll always want to see you," he promised her. "I may not understand why you're doing this, but if it's something you have to do then I'll support you."_

_ Ezra continued to support Aria throughout her A endeavors, gradually becoming more involved. He knew that this was something his girlfriend had to do and he wasn't going to be the one to stand in her way._

1 month later

_A soft knock and a weary "Ezra" sounded at his door. He quickly hopped up from his desk recognizing the voice as Aria's._

_ "Hey!" he smiled. The grin soon dropped from his face though when he saw the tears forming in Aria's eyes._

_ "Can we talk," she asked, her voice a slightly higher pitch than usual._

_ "Of course," he agreed opening his door wider, allowing her to come in._

_ "My family's going to Iceland," Aria said. "For a year or two."_

_ She could see Ezra's face fall as she told him the news causing her to experience a whole new round of tears._

_ "I'll wait for you," Ezra vowed. As if to prove his point more he rested his hand against his heart._

_ Aria chuckled softly at his behavior and went to stand next to him._

_ "I would never ask you to do that," Aria told him. "I just wanted to give you a heads up."_

_ "When do you leave," he wondered. _

_ "Tomorrow." _

_ Ezra gave her a sad look pulling her close. Their lips immediately found each other their kisses hungry and passionate. These kisses were like none of the others they had shared and contained a certain rawness neither had experienced. They knew this was the last day they would be able to spend with one another for a while and they were making sure to get good use out of it. _

_ Aria pulled back for a moment her eyes diverting over to Ezra's bed. Ezra understood what she was trying to tell him but a part of him was still torn over how young she was._

_ "Please," she whispered._

_ Ezra was never able to say no to her and ended up giving in to her wish as he led them over to his mattress. __**(M) **__He began to unbutton her blouse kissing each new piece of skin that was exposed. He pressed soft kisses to the tops of her breasts before discarding her shirt and unhooking her bra. He swirled his tongue around her erect nipples eliciting a moan from her pale pink lips._

_ Aria began lifting his t shirt over his head marveling at how hard his abdomen was. They kissed intensely as Ezra's fingers trailed down her stomach. He began to undo the button on her jeans before stopping himself._

_ "Have you," he started. "Have you ever done this," he motioned to their entangled bodies._

_ She shook her head a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. "I want you to be my first," she answered._

_ "You're sure?"_

_ Aria nodded vigorously needing this last piece of intimacy if they were going to be separated for so long. _

_ Ezra continued kissing her before slowly pulling her jeans down her slender legs. Aria reached for his belt buckle quickly undoing that before pushing his jeans down his legs. Ezra stood kicking the denim material to the floor before returning to the bed. He hooked his fingers in her lacy underwear removing the small piece of fabric before getting rid of his own boxers._

_ He smiled down at Aria before centering himself to her. He slowly pushed in causing Aria's eyes to water slightly. He tried to pull out seeing he was causing her pain but she wrapped her legs around his torso explaining how she didn't want to stop. Ezra began thrusting slowly getting farther in every time. Aria still felt some pain but it was getting less and less as they continued._

_ Ezra quickly kissed Aria and grasped her hand interlocking their fingers as they made love for the first time._

Aria would never forget that day and it was another of her favorite memories. When she was in Iceland they had both been true to their word and never saw anyone else but they soon fell out of touch with each other. The phone calls and e-mails became less and less and soon none were exchanged at all. The strain of a long distance relationship was just too much for them.

After a year though Aria returned to Rosewood expecting Ezra to have found someone else while she was away. What she wasn't expecting though was to find him standing in front of her AP English class. At first they agreed the relationship couldn't go on, but like all the times before they just couldn't stay away from each other. They continued the relationship knowing they couldn't be without the other.

Aria knew they would be able to get past this fight with her parents. They'd always prevailed in the past and she knew this time would be no different.

**Hope you guys liked the chapter! Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for the long wait! I haven't really been motivated due to the lack of Ezria on the show and school just started, so I was busy getting ready. I'm going to try and update this week again though.**

**Thank you: beverlie4055, Nabrenda12, CheyeM1287, Guest, Guest, princessjasmine12, YaleAce, Guest, PretLilTwiGleek**

**Guest: Aria is blackmailing the girls because she is mad at them for taking Alison away from her.**

**Since Chapter 17 was mostly a flashback, this you might want to re read Chapter 16 if you're confused since it's been so long.**

"What do you mean you think Aria's protecting him?" Emily asked. She looked at Spencer as if she had lost her mind even though a part of her knew it was in the realm of possibilities.

"It's just, their so close and I wouldn't be surprised if Aria didn't want him to get in trouble," Spencer explained.

"You really think Aria would do that to us and herself?" Emily pointed out.

"Em, have you noticed that nothing really bad has ever happened to Aria?" Spencer said. Emily bit her lip realizing that there was some truth in Spencer's statement.

"I don't think that's a coincidence," Spencer murmured.

"I know Aria would never do this to us," Emily stressed. "So maybe Ezra's like blackmailing her or something."

Spencer nodded agreeing that that made sense. "So we have to help her," Spencer stated.

…

Aria stepped into English class a wide smile spreading across her face as she saw Ezra was back in school and writing something on the black board. She went to take her seat along with some other students glancing up at Ezra as he turned around. She rose the corners of lips in a small smile to which he discreetly returned before grabbing a stack of papers.

The final bell rung and the last of the students which included Emily and Hannah walked in. Aria saw Emily and Hannah talking in rushed whispers and also found it odd that Spencer wasn't here. She was never late and certainly never missed school, even when she was sick.

"I graded your essays and am going to hand them back and then you guys will be taking a pop quiz," Ezra announced from the front of the room. A couple people groaned and few quickly grabbed their books trying to skim through the chapters as Ezra began handing people their papers back.

Aria knew the book they were reading inside and out so instead she focused on Ezra. He looked more tired than usual, but still handsome as ever. She watched a curl fall in front of his eyes and immediately felt the urge to brush it back into its place. She wanted to touch him so bad even if was a graze along his forehead. Not being to see him all the time was really taking its toll on Aria and she knew it as she felt her eyes run along his back and then further. Ezra turned to face towards her row and Aria quickly snapped her eyes away a light pink tinting her cheeks. She mentally scolded herself for getting so carried away reminding herself she was still in school.

"I was very impressed with your paper Miss Montgomery," Ezra smiled. He placed the white sheets on her desk which were adorned with a big red A. Aria smiled back and thanked him. This small conversation held more meaning to them though as it was the only physical interaction they'd had since Aria had seen Ezra that day after school.

Spencer rushed down the hallways of Rosewood high cursing under her breath as she dropped her book. She quickly picked it up and practically ran to Mr. Fitz's classroom. She had been up most of the night trying to figure out how they could catch that Ezra was A and how they would try and help Aria. If Ezra really was blackmailing her they would have to figure out a way to get her alone and make sure Ezra didn't find out. Her obsessive need to always be investigating something led her to oversleep and then be late for school. She would always hate that she didn't have perfect attendance anymore but at least the reason was to help Aria.

She opened the door to Ezra's classroom apologizing profusely that she was late. Ezra said it was fine as she had never been late before but to make sure it didn't happen again. He handed her, her paper and a quiz and told her to get started and that everyone had the whole period for the test.

Aria looked over at Spencer and noticed her disheveled appearance. She had bags over her eyes and wasn't wearing any make-up. She returned back to her quiz circling every answer with ease. She thought the quiz was super easy and was the first one to finish.

As Ezra saw Aria and a couple students after her finishing up the assessment he instructed the class to place them on his desk when they were done. Aria jumped up from her seat as did a few other students and went to give the test to Ezra.

Aria's hand grazed Ezra's as she placed the white sheet in front of him feeling a tingling feeling throughout her body. Ezra felt the same way too and look up into Aria's hazel orbs. Aria smiled quickly before walking back to her desk.

Soon the bell rung signaling the end of class. Aria walked over to Spencer and Emily, Hannah right behind her.

"I don't think you've ever been late before," Aria laughed

"I know," Spencer groaned, " Now I don't have perfect attendance."

"Did you oversleep?," Aria asked.

Spencer nodded , " I was up really late." Aria watched as Spencer, Hannah, and Emily all shared a quick look, but she couldn't quite place what it was.

"On the bright side, guess who got C+ on their paper," Hannah sang as she held up her essay.

Aria chuckled as the four of them walked to the door. She turned back to face Ezra and mouthed "After school?" to which he nodded.

…

"Did you come up with a plan?" Emily asked Spencer once Aria had left them to go to Painting. Luckily Spencer, Hannah, and Emily all had their next class gym together.

"Yeah," Spencer assured them. " I thought we could send Aria a text acting like were Ezra and mention something A related and see how she responds. Then we can see if Ezra's really blackmailing her."

Emily and Hannah nodded in agreement before agreeing to meet by Spencer's locker after school.

…

Aria hurriedly put her books away in her locker glad it was finally the end of the day. Her parents had agreed to let her drive herself to and from school now, so she was taking advantage of that. She fast walked to Ezra's room desperately needing to see him.

She opened the door to his classroom and was immediately met with Ezra's lips. He pushed her up against the door locking it with one hand and shutting the blinds with the other. Aria smiled against his lips fisting his shirt in her hands.

Ezra pulled back allowing them each to catch their breath before moving to her neck.

"I've been wanting to do that all class," he mumbled against her soft skin.

Aria hummed trailing her fingers through his black locks as he nipped at her collarbone. Ezra's lips traveled across her clavicle and moved upwards on the other side of her neck. He moved to her ear his hot breath making Aria shiver.

"I saw you staring at me in class," he whispered. Aria giggled as Ezra continued to kiss her neck his hands resting firmly on her hips. Aria removed her hands from around his neck slowly dragging them down his chest. She quickly untucked his dress shirt moving her hands to his hard abdomen. She lightly scratched his chest as Ezra returned his lips to hers.

Spencer had watched Aria go into Ezra's classroom worried that it would ruin her plan. When She, Hannah, and Emily sent the text Aria couldn't be with Ezra because then she would know he didn't send it. She knew she had to get Aria out of there for the plan as well as her friend's safety. If Ezra really was A who knows what he could do.

Aria moaned as Ezra began to massage her sides and pushed him back slightly towards his desk. They likely would have kept going and made good use of said desk if a knock hadn't sounded at Ezra's door. Him and Aria reluctantly pulled apart and fixed their clothes and hair as Ezra called out he would be right there. He walked over to the door once he knew him and Aria looked ok, relieved when he saw it was Spencer on the other side.

"Spencer, what can I do for you," Ezra asked.

"I was just wondering if I could talk to about a few things in my essay," Spencer replied. This was somewhat true Spencer really was wondering about a couple of things but it also allowed her to make sure Aria wasn't with Ezra when she got the text.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Aria told Ezra as she left the room.

Hannah and Emily got ready to send the text making sure to block the number while Spencer was with Ezra. They watched Aria get into her car so they knew she wouldn't come back and see Ezra before she got the text.

Aria got into her car going slightly over the speed limit so her parents would think she had left right after school finished. She finally got home relieved to see her mother and father both weren't home yet when she got a text.

_Do you know where Hannah is, I want to send her a text but I don't want the other girls to see- Ezra_

Hannah, Emily, and Spencer all thought this was a plausible text. If Ezra was blackmailing Aria he would probably always be asking for information on their whereabouts and secrets.

Aria thought it was odd that Ezra wrote his whole name, because when they were dealing with A stuff he usually just put an –E. She figured he must have forgotten though and responded anyway.

_I'm pretty sure she went home so it's probably safe. If this is what we talked about a couple of days ago I thought of something we could add. Call me and we can talk about it. Love you! –A_

Hannah almost dropped the phone when she read the response and quickly showed it to Emily.

"She's involved?" Emily choked out.

Hannah looked at her worriedly slowly nodding her head.

**Hope you guys liked this! Next chapter is going to be crazy! **

**The more reviews I get the earlier I'll update this week!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks so much for the reviews!**

**YaleAce, thecandygirl1, Guest, beverlie4055, princessjasmine12, LauralovesPLL, AmyHale, TeamSparia, xShannonx11, OnlyTheYoung, CheyeM1287, DestaniThomas, Emily**

**You guys are the best!**

"Hannah she can't be!" Emily breathed.

"Em," Hannah said looking back down at the phone, referring to the text Aria had just sent.

Emily's eyes welled with tears as she continued to stare at the phone in disbelief.

"We have to text Spencer," Hannah stated as she quickly began to message their brunette friend.

_Come see us now- Hannah_

…

Aria waited for Ezra's response and found it extremely odd when she didn't get one. After 15 minutes of nothing she decided to call him. She was so relieved when her parents had given her, her phone back and quickly scrolled to the contact labeled E.

"Hey," Ezra said, smiling to himself as stood up from his chair.

"Hey," Aria replied. "Why didn't you call me back?"

"Oh, I didn't know you wanted me to," Ezra explained. He furrowed his brow, wondering what she was talking about as he began to pack up his desk.

"When I responded to your text I said to call me," Aria told him. She shut off her car and grabbed her purse before heading to her front door.

"Aria I never texted you," Ezra pointed out. He threw in the last of his papers into his satchel before going to leave his classroom.

"Ezra, what do you mean you never texted me?" Aria practically demanded.

"I mean, that I've been with Spencer this whole time and never texted you," Ezra repeated. "Aria, is something wrong?"

Aria's breath hitched in her throat at the realization that Ezra did not in fact send her that text. Someone else besides her and Ezra knew she was A.

"I think so," she murmured.

…

"Hey did you guys send the text?" Spencer asked as she made her way down Rosewood High's hallways to where Emily and Hannah were standing.

"Em, what's wrong?" Spencer asked as she saw Emily's eyes red and puffy.

"Spence, Aria's A," Hannah stated as she pulled out her phone to show her.

Spencer swallowed as she read the text from Aria and looked between Hannah and Emily. She couldn't find the words to speak and was in utter disbelief at what had just happened.

"Maybe, it's a joke?" Spencer offered. "Maybe she's just trying to mess with us?" Her voice went up a pitch at the end of her sentence and her breathing sped up.

"Spencer, she thought the text was from Ezra not us," Emily mumbled another tear trickling down her face.

"Well for all we know A somehow got ahold of Aria's phone and sent that," Spencer suggested.

Hannah and Emily nodded praying that that was the reason.

…

"I'm coming to see you," Aria breathed as she shut her front door and returned to her car.

"Why, Aria what's going on," Ezra asked extremely confused to her sudden change in attitude.

"I'm not sure," Aria sighed. "I'll see you in a little bit." She hung up her phone and started her car not caring that she would probably be grounded for even longer because she wasn't home right away. Her parents still hadn't come around to her dating Ezra, but Aria knew she had to see him right now no matter what and started driving.

Ezra soon heard frantic knocks at his door and leapt up from his couch to answer it. He saw a panicky Aria who couldn't seem to stand still as she pushed past Ezra into his apartment.

"This is really bad, Ezra really bad," she rambled while pacing around his kitchen.

"Aria, you need to relax," Ezra soothed as he went to stand near her. He placed his arms on her shoulders stopping her motions and gently lifted her chin up. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back to look at her. He ran his hands down her arms and grasped her hands leading her to the couch.

"Tell me what's wrong," Ezra smiled comfortingly rubbing the top of her hands with his palm.

Aria's eyes down casted her bottom lip quivering slightly. She sighed harshly before looking back up into Ezra's blue eyes. Ezra traced her porcelain face with the back of his hand urging her to continue.

"Someone else knows were A," Aria mumbled as she tried to blink back tears. "Someone sent me a message pretending to be you saying that you wanted to send Hannah an A message," she explained.

Ezra bit his lip as he took in this new information, seeing pure worry across Aria's face. He looked into her hazel orbs that were beginning to fill more and more with tears.

"It'll be ok," Ezra whispered as he ran his hands up and down her forearms.

"Ezra," Aria whimpered. "I dragged you into this whole mess and if you got sent to jail, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"Aria," he cooed. "I'm not going to jail and neither are you. Maybe we can contact this person and see what they want," he proposed. "No matter what though, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."

Ezra brushed his finger along Aria's cheek wiping away the few tears that had managed to escape. He pulled her into his lap burying his face in her neck.

"I love you so much, Aria," he murmured into her skin. He wrapped his arms tighter around her small figure as she came to rest her hands behind Ezra's neck.

"I love you too, Ezra.

Aria pressed soft kisses to the top of Ezra's head lightly caressing the base of his skull. Ezra came out from the crook of Aria's neck placing a quick kiss on her lips. Aria grasped the sides of Ezra's face pulling him closer kissing him again. She deepened the kiss frantically trying to undo the buttons of his shirt. They hadn't had any alone time out of school and the sexual frustration had really built up.

Ezra lifted Aria off his lap, placing her lying down beneath him. He undid the remaining buttons of his shirt before throwing the fabric off somewhere in his apartment. He returned to Aria's neck sucking on the soft skin surely leaving a mark. Aria usually would have been conscious about leaving all traces of him behind but at this point she didn't care.

Ezra lifted her shirt up kissing her stomach eliciting a moan from Aria's lips. Ezra kissed the piece of exposed skin as he continued to move the shirt up eventually getting it all off together.

A ringing sounded from Aria's purse causing her to groan at the interruption.

"Ignore it," Ezra mumbled his voice husky as he continued to kiss her abdomen.

"Mmm," Aria hummed agreeing with him. She brought his head back up to her lips continuing to let the phone ring.

…

"She's not picking up," Emily breathed as she dialed Aria's cell number one more time.

"We have to find out if A really took her phone though," Spencer huffed as she ran a frustrated hand through her long brown hair.

"Maybe she's at her house, and has her phone turned off," Hannah suggested.

Spencer shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's worth a try."

…

Aria and Ezra were currently sitting on Ezra's couch wrapped up in Ezra's sheets that they had taken from his bed because they were cold. Ezra absentmindedly played with one of Aria's curls while Aria was cuddled into his side.

"Do you want to try and contact that person again?" Ezra asked looking down to Aria.

Aria shook her head biting her lip. "Can we just be here right now and not worry about anything?" she practically begged.

"Of course," Ezra smiled. He placed a kiss on her forehead pulling her even closer, even though there was virtually no space in between them.

Aria's phone began to ring again and she begrudgingly went to see who it was. She padded across the apartment taking the sheet with her leaving Ezra in mock annoyance.

"That's not fair," he laughed referring to his now exposed body.

Aria just giggled and dug around in her purse until she grasped the hard plastic rectangle.

"It's Emily," Aria stated as she dragged her finger across the green answer button. She went back to sit next to Ezra returning his portion of the sheet s as she said, "Hey Em."

"Aria," she exclaimed. "We've been calling you."

"Yeah, I was busy so I just let it ring," Aria explained as she eyed Ezra, smiling at him.

"Oh well, me, Hannah, and Spencer were wondering if we could talk to you? We're at your house because we were looking for you and it's really important," Emily told her.

"Um, yeah I guess," Aria agreed wondering what they could possible want to talk to her about. "I'll be there soon."

"K, see you then," Emily said. Aria hung up her phone placing it on the table before starting to search for her clothes.

"Do you have to go?" Ezra whined.

"Yeah," Aria sighed. "The girls are at my house because they want to talk to me about something."

Ezra said ok not hiding his disappointment at all as he watched Aria get redressed.

"This was really nice," Ezra said, talking about their much needed couple time.

"I've really missed it," Aria admitted as she buttoned up her jeans.

Aria threw on her shirt and grabbed her jacket before going over to kiss Ezra on the forehead.

"I'll see you in school," she smiled, lightly rubbing her thumb across his cheek. Ezra nodded grasping her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Aria gave him one last kiss on the cheek before heading to her car.

Aria arrived at her house around 10 minutes later and saw all 3 girls car's parked in her driveway. She got out of her car and saw them all standing on her porch.

"Where were you?" Spencer asked. "We've been trying to reach you all day."

"I was at Ezra's," Aria informed them. She saw them all share a panicky look and then try to mask that look once they saw her staring at them.

"You were with Ezra?" Spencer repeated.

Aria didn't understand why they were all acting so odd, they knew her and Ezra were a couple. And then it hit her. The only reason they would be worried if she was at Ezra's was if Ezra knew something they didn't want her to know… Like that he hadn't sent any text messages.

"You sent the text message," Aria breathed.

"And you're A," Spencer choked out.

Aria stood there for a moment in complete shock before quickly turning around. She saw her mother's car pulling into the driveway and her window roll down while she explained she got held up in a meeting school.

Aria didn't answer and just kept walking to her car. The girls were still standing there, dumbfounded at what was happening.

"Aria, what are you doing?" Ella demanded as she saw Aria get into her car.

Aria started the engine of her car quickly driving off.

**Hope you guys liked this! New chapter soon!**

**Please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the long wait! School has literally been killing mee..**

**Thank you: Yale Ace, LauralovesPLL, foreverdream7, princessjasmine12, guest, CheyeM1287, sydnayb123, beverlie4055, thecandygirl1, OnlyTheYoung, PrettyLittleSwifty13, DestaniThomas, Laura, intolauren !**

**Chapter 20!**

Ella looked between Aria's fading car and the three girls standing on her porch completely silent and looking like they were going to pass out.

"What just happened?" Emily whimpered.

"We have to follow her," Spencer practically demanded.

"And when we find her?" Hannah asked. Spencer sighed and looked down the street where Aria had just left. She had no idea what she would do once they found her and couldn't even imagine what she would say.

"I don't know," Spencer admitted. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"Maybe we'll think of something on the way?" Emily offered.

Spencer and Hannah nodded before each of them went to walk to their respective cars.

Ella stood there in shock as she watched Spencer, Emily, and Hannah get into their cars none of them acknowledging her. She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Aria's number, frustrated when she didn't pick up. She didn't know what was up with Aria, but sent her a few stern messages telling her she needed to come home as soon as she got them.

…

Aria breathed deeply as she continued to drive, cascades of tears pouring down her face. She wiped furiously at her cheeks, loud whimpers filling the car. She turned once she saw Ezra's apartment building and quickly parked. She ran up the stairs of his building and knocked feverishly once she got to his door.

Ezra opened it almost immediately, hearing the panicky quality of the knocks.

"Hey," he smiled once he saw who it was.

Aria pushed past him into his apartment another loud sob ripping through her chest.

"We have to go right now," Aria stressed. She walked into Ezra's bathroom grabbing the things she had left here for when she slept over.

"Aria calm down," Ezra said. "What are you talking about?"

"T-the girls k-know," she choked out as she starting taking her clothes from Ezra's closet.

Ezra inhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair. "We can't just run away though."

Aria turned to look at Ezra, her make-up smudged and her eyes puffy, as she walked over to him.

"Please," she whispered.

"Aria," Ezra curled a piece of her hair behind her ear and looked down into her pained eyes.

"Please," she whispered again.

"How's this going to work?" Ezra pointed out.

"I don't know," Aria sighed looking down at the pair of pants she was holding. "But we can't be here while we try to figure it out."

Ezra gave her a soft smile before grabbing the pants Aria was holding and folding them over his arm. He walked over to his dresser pulling out a few of his clothes before reaching for a duffel bag under his bed.

"Thank you," Aria murmured.

"I love you," Ezra stated as he placed a gentle kiss on Aria's lips.

"Forever," Aria said linking their hands together.

"Forever," Ezra repeated before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

5 minutes and two duffel bags later, Aria and Ezra had packed a good amount of their clothes, some toiletries, and a few boxes of food. They figured they would just buy anything else that they would need.

"Ready," Ezra asked.

Aria nodded as Ezra threw the bags into his trunk before they each went to sit in their seats.

…

"Isn't it a left?" Emily wondered.

"No, Ezra's apartment is definitely to the right," Spencer assured her.

"I thought it was straight?" Hannah added.

Spencer sighed, "We are never going to find it."

…

Ezra placed his hand on Aria's thigh, rubbing circles along it with is thumb. Aria placed her hand on top of his wrapping her other one around his arm. She kissed his elbow before leaning her head against it. She was so happy when Ezra had bought this car because the console in the middle was really small and they could be so close when they were driving.

At about 6:00 p.m. they arrived in Philadelphia and decided to start looking for a hotel. Ezra had remembered one that he had previously stayed at and fortunately found it with little trouble. Ezra quickly parked the car and grabbed the bags, and he and Aria walked into the hotel.

Ezra booked a room for two nights and hoped that, that was enough time for them to figure out what they were going to do.

"This is nice," Aria said as she looked around the room.

"Only the best for you," Ezra explained. Aria smiled at him as Ezra enclosed her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head mumbling "I love you" into her hair.

"I'm gonna go brush my hair and teeth," Aria said into his chest.

Ezra nodded giving her a quick kiss on the lips before letting her go.

Aria walked to her duffel bag grabbing her brush, the toothbrush she kept at Ezra's, and the toothpaste they had brought. She walked into the bathroom and began brushing through her dark brown locks.

Aria huffed as she tried to work through a particularly hard knot. She winced as the brush pulled at her hair and began brushing harder as she got more frustrated. A pinching feeling in her head made her stop and put the brush down as she realized how carried away she had been getting. She felt her eyes well up with tears as she thought about what was happening. Her life was basically a huge knot. She couldn't think of any way she was going to get out of this. The girls probably wanted her gone forever after knowing that their year of terror was caused by her. Not to mention, the fact that she _and_ Ezra could go to jail for some of the things they had done.

Ezra heard Aria put her brush down on the marble counter and figured she would be out soon. When she stayed in there for 10 more minutes he walked closer to the door when he heard her crying.

"Aria," he called out. When she didn't respond he knocked on the door opening it slightly. He saw her sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the tub and her head buried in her knees which were pulled close to her body.

"Aria," Ezra cooed as he went to sit next to her. Aria lifted her head and instantly curled into Ezra.

"We really screwed up," Aria whimpered as she grasped at Ezra's shirt pressing herself even closer to his body.

"We'll be ok," he reassured her as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. He wrapped his arms tighter around her body before picking her up. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. He kicked off his shoes and removed hers before joining her beneath the covers. Aria turned into his chest still crying while Ezra continued to whisper sweet words. Aria's crying soon died down and Ezra could tell she had fallen asleep. He had told Aria countless times everything would be ok, but lying here he started to wonder if maybe things wouldn't .

"I love you Aria," he whispered. He knew she wouldn't hear him, but he never felt right going to sleep without saying it. He kissed Aria's head before falling asleep himself.

**Sorry this chapter is so short! I haven't been able to write in forever so I'm still getting back into the swing of things. **

**I'll try and update soon!**

**Please review! If you guys have anything you want to happen tell me!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you: Guest, Guest, foreverdream7, beverlie4055, Nabrenda12, thecandygirl1, KailaGlass**

**I didn't get many reviews, last chapter, so please please review this one! If I get enough I'll update during the week!**

**Chapter 21**

Aria opened her eyes slightly, before quickly shutting them as the sun streamed in through the windows. She turned away from the glass, burying her head into Ezra's side. She heard Ezra chuckle and squinted her eyes peering up at him. He was sitting upright, with his back against the headboard, while the TV played on mute. He was staring down at her and brushed a loose lock of hair from her face, before she nestled herself closer to his warm torso. Ezra brought his hand to her back, slowly moving it up and down while Aria drifted back to sleep in the comforts of his arms.

After about fifteen minutes Ezra felt a shift and a quiet whimper escaped Aria's lips. She turned more violently this time, her left leg kicking back. Aria whined again and her face scrunched up while her hand aggressively grabbed the sheets. Ezra quickly shook her awake and repeatedly told her it was just a dream. Aria inhaled sharply as she opened her eyes and looked up at Ezra. Her hazel orbs quickly filled with tears as she sat upright.

Ezra pulled her onto his lap and began whispering sweet nothing's in her ear. Aria sobbed quietly into his chest and fisted the shirt he was wearing in her palm.

"I h-had a dream, the girls were chasing m-me and I couldn't find you a-anywhere," she choked out as she pressed her face deeper into Ezra's neck.

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her as he cradled her head. "It was just a dream."

"It felt so real," she murmured against his skin. They continued to stay like that for a while, as she continued to cry and Ezra rocked them slowly back and forth.

Aria finally picked her head up giving Ezra a sad smile.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she took the end of her long sleeve shirt and wiped Ezra's neck which was covered in her tears.

Ezra shrugged, "I was going to take a shower soon anyways. Would you care to join me?" he smiled.

Aria laughed quietly and nodded her head. Ezra placed a quick kiss on her lips, before picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

"Ezra," she shrieked while simultaneously giggling.

"Yes?" he asked innocently before kissing the side of her thigh closest to him.

"You're crazy," she chuckled kissing him upside-down on his back.

"I know," he grinned.

…

Aria and Ezra stepped onto the cool marble floor after their much needed shower. It gave them a nice distraction, neither one of them ready to talk about what to do next. Aria and Ezra both reached for a fluffy white towel from the rack on the wall and wrapped themselves up.

"Thank you for that," Aria whispered as she stood on her tip toes to press a kiss to Ezra's soft lips.

"Thank _you_," Ezra corrected her as he trailed his finger across her jawline. Aria leaned her face into his hand before kissing it and fixing her towel.

She and Ezra both left the bathroom to find their duffel bags and quickly got dressed. Aria went to brush her hair and teeth, while Ezra stayed on the bed and towel-dried his hair.

Aria finished up and nervously walked back into the main room, not sure where things were going to go. She anxiously grabbed her cell phone and turned it on to more than 50 missed phone calls and 30 text messages. They were mostly from her mom, dad, and mike, only a couple from the girls.

"Are you going to call your parents?" Ezra asked from the bed.

Aria bit her lip contemplating it, before finally nodding. "There probably freaking out."

Ezra gave her an encouraging smile as she dialed the forbidding number.

"Aria," Ella exclaimed.

"Hi," Aria murmured.

"Aria, I've been calling you and was one hour away from calling the police," she breathed.

"I-I just need to be away right now," Aria explained, running a hand through her hair.

"Aria you need to come home," Ella argued.

'I can't."

"Aria, what about school?" Ella demanded.

Aria sighed. She had actually completely forgotten about school, while dealing with everything.

"Mom, I just need some space, I'll call you back later," Aria said. She hung up not, giving her mother a chance to reply.

"Hey," Ezra said as he wrapped his arms around Aria from behind.

Aria leaned back into Ezra's embrace, breathing deeply.

"What are you going to do about school," Aria asked him as she turned around.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that," Ezra responded. Aria looked at him curiously as he took her hand leading her over to the bed. They each sat down, their hands still entwined.

"I quit today," Ezra announced.

Aria stared at him, not sure how to respond to that.

"There's only a few more months to the school year and I know of a couple job openings for the next year. I can't continue to work at Rosewood High if Spencer, Hannah, and Emily still go there," Ezra explained.

"Where are the jobs?" Aria softly asked.

Ezra swallowed, "New York."

Aria's eyes welled with tears at this information and looked down to their hands. "Can I come with you?" Aria instantly asked.

"As much as I would _love_ you too, you have to finish high school," Ezra stressed.

"We, we could live together, and I could be homeschooled," Aria proposed, her voice hoarse from the sting in her throat from crying.

"Aria," Ezra looked at her his resolve slowly slipping away, at every tear that left her glassy eyes.

"Please Ezra," Aria whispered. "We can run away together."

"Your family," Ezra pointed out.

"We can be a new family," she said.

Ezra gave her a weary smile and pulled her farther up onto the bed with him. He wrapped his arms around her leaning his chin on top of her head. He traced his fingers up and down the silky skin of her arms leaving goose bumps in his path. Aria shivered as Ezra's hot breath tickled her ear cuddling closer to his form. She breathed in the scent that could only be described as "Ezra" and rested her ankle in between in his two.

"No matter what happens, I'll always love you Aria," Ezra stated.

"I know," Aria said.

**I know it's super short, but I wanted to post something. If I get a good amount of reviews I'll post a new chapter in a couple of days though!**

**Also, do you guys want Aria and Ezra to get away with it, or have a confrontation with the girls, or anything else? Review and tell me your thoughts!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks for the reviews! And there will be a confrontation with the girls soon because so many of you wanted one!**

**Thanks: YaleAce, Iluvonelife, Guest, beverlie4055, Laura, florencebisson, OnlyTheYoung, thehelloitsme, Guest, gail, thecandygirl1, foreverdream7, KailaGlass, CheyeM1287 **

Aria and Ezra spent the rest of the morning lying in bed together watching TV. At about 2:00, when Aria's stomach started to growl, Ezra decided they should probably go somewhere to eat.

"Know any good restaurants?" Ezra asked Aria as he turned the steering wheel slightly and placed his hand on Aria's knee.

Aria shrugged, "We can just go to McDonalds or something." Ezra gave her a pointed look before averting his eyes back to the road.

"Aria, you hate McDonalds," he reminded her. He saw Aria bite her lip and was glad they were coming to a stop light so he could look over at her for longer than 3 seconds.

"What's wrong?" he wondered as he slowly moved his thumb across the side of her leg.

"It's nothing," she said, shaking her head, to emphasize her point.

"Aria," he gave her a look, saying he didn't believe what she was saying.

"Really, it's nothing," she stressed. "Light's green."

Ezra sighed and turned back to the road lightly pressing on the gas pedal. "Well, I know a really nice vegan place on Washington Avenue. I'm sure you'll love it," he smiled. Aria nodded and bit her lip again, her telltale sign she was nervous about something. Ezra figured she tell him in due time and decided not to press the issue.

About five minutes later, they pulled up to a small restaurant called Chez Mirabelle's. Ezra and Aria found a table towards the back of the restaurant and sat down.

"Hey, my names Brittany, and I'm going to be taking care of you two tonight. Can I start off with any drinks?" A tall brunette with dark brown eyes asked.

"Aria, they have the best tea here," Ezra told her, his face lighting up.

"I actually think I'll just have water," Aria said. Ezra looked up at her from his menu and saw her staring and down into hers, before ordering a coke for himself.

"Awesome, I'll be right back with those," Brittany announced.

"Don't like tea anymore?" Ezra asked.

"I do, I'm just not in the mood for it today," Aria answered. She looked at him briefly before returning to the laminated papers in front of her.

"Aria," Ezra practically demanded. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"I already told you nothing is wrong," Aria exclaimed.

"Well I don't believe you," Ezra remarked.

Aria sighed harshly, biting her lip again. "Because of me, you don't have a job right now, and won't until next September, that's if those schools still even have openings," she confessed, her voice shaky from uncried tears.

"Aria, I can afford to take us to lunch," he assured her.

"Ezra, what about in a few months?" Aria choked out. "Your bills are going to start coming in and I don't want you to waste your money on some silly meal."

"I have my savings, I'll be fine," he promised. Aria looked unconvinced, but at that moment Brittany showed up with up with their drinks.

Much to Ezra's protest, Aria only got a salad, refusing to get something too expensive. When she tried to pay for the meal though, Ezra refused to let her especially since her meal had been so cheap.

After paying, they both stood up and Ezra grabbed Aria's hand. He pulled her close to his side before draping an arm across her shoulders.

"I will be fine, I promise," he murmured into her ear before softly kissing her temple. Aria gave him a weary smile before grabbing his hand resting on her shoulder and kissing his knuckles.

They decided to head back to the hotel, both of them a little afraid of being seen by someone they knew. Their relationship still wasn't technically out yet, except for her parents and they couldn't risk someone telling the girls where they were.

Ezra and Aria walked hand in hand into the lobby, and kept their fingers entwined through the elevator ride all the way to their room. Ezra quickly unlocked the door and pulled Aria over to sit on the bed with him.

"I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room," Ezra chuckled, trying to bring some light into the heavy topic they were about to discuss.

"Yeah," Aria exhaled.

"Tonight's the last night we have the room," Ezra informed her, "So we kind of need to decide what we want to do."

Aria rubbed her eyes before pressing the bridge of her nose. Ezra ran his hand up and down her thigh before patting it slightly.

"Do you still want to go to New York with me?" he asked. Aria nodded her head immediately a hint of desperation apparent in her eyes.

"You can't leave me alone," she whimpered.

"I won't," Ezra said shaking his head. "We'd have to sell the apartment and tell your guidance counselor about your schooling in the next couple of days though," he pointed out.

"Could we do it over the phone?" Aria wondered.

"I'm sure I could sell the apartment back to my landlord that way, but I think you might have to actually go to your school to sign some things," he said.

"I'm afraid of what I'll walk back into, if we go back home," Aria confessed. Ezra curled a piece of her hair behind her ear and brushed his thumb across her soft cheek.

"I'll take you after the school day is over, and you can be in and out of there," he offered. "Do you know what you're going to do about your parents?"

"I can't tell them," she stressed. "They wouldn't let me go if they knew, especially since we're," she motioned between the two of them, "aren't supposed to be together.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ezra asked. He took Aria's smaller hand into his own and squeezed slightly.

"I don't want to, but with what we did to the girls, they'll hate us and I'm sure they'd have no hesitation in calling the police."

Ezra nodded, a pained expression gracing his features as he thought about what they were doing. They really were running away. A part of him felt that he was taking the last part of Aria's childhood away from her, but knew that what she had just said held a lot of truth.

"Hey," Aria said, lifting Ezra's chin up to meet her eyes. "I would sacrifice never seeing my family or friends ever again, if it meant I could be with you."

Ezra gave her a sad smile and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"I love you Ezra," she whispered as she smoothed her hand over his stubble.

Ezra pulled her closer pressing a quick kiss to her lips. He felt her lightly scratching the back of his neck and tightened his hold on her. He looked at her and cupped her porcelain face in his hands just admiring her.

"What?" she blushed under his unrelenting stare.

"You're so beautiful," he smiled.

Aria laughed and looked down before placing her hands on top of his that were still cradling her face.

"We're really doing this," she breathed.

"We are," Ezra chuckled shaking his head.

Aria moved further up the bed, patting the spot next to her. "We might as well enjoy our last in night in our little bubble," she laughed.

Ezra smiled, instantly moving up to join her. He claimed her lips in a passionate kiss quickly getting to a position where he was hovering over her. He rested on his forearms careful not to put too much weight on her. Aria reached up and felt Ezra's heart through his shirt, giggling when she felt how fast it was going.

"I love you, baby," Ezra whispered before kissing her neck.

**Ok, so next chapter we find out what's been happening in Rosewood and it's the confrontation with the girls! If I get enough reviews I'll update this weekend!**


	23. Chapter 23

**I know I said I'd update this last weekend, but I forgot that I had like 4 papers due that week, so I didn't really have much time. Except for Tuesday, when I will be watching the PLL marathon I have a pretty easy week, so if you guys review I'll try to update!**

**Thank you: Lauren, QisaQ, beverlie4055, YaleAce, lexie51, LauralovesPLL, THUNDER BRAT, foreverdream7, Laura, thecandygirl1, msjennpenn, CheyeM1287, DestaniThomas**

Ezra gently shook Aria awake, smiling as she groaned and turned her face into the hotel's white pillows.

"Aria, honey, we have to go soon," he murmured as he ran his hand up and down her back.

"I'm tired," she mumbled into the sheets. Ezra chuckled and moved her hair from her neck, softly kissing the now exposed area. He buried his face into her smooth skin and leaned his chest on her back and placed his arms on either side of her body.

"I wish we could stay here forever," Aria whispered.

"I know, Ezra sighed, "me too."

"What time do we have to leave," she asked.

"Check out's at eleven, and it's 10 now, so about an hour," he replied. Ezra reluctantly got up from his position and sat next to Aria's legs instead. Aria slowly turned around and rubbed her eyes before sitting up.

Aria bit her lip and looked down at her hands, while she mindlessly scratched at a piece of leftover nail polish.

"You just have to talk to your guidance counselor and then we're free," Ezra reminded her. He lifted her chin up with his fingers and made her look at him. "I promise it will be ok."

Aria gave him a weary smile before detaching herself from the covers and curling into Ezra's lap. Ezra hugged her tightly pressing numerous kisses to the top of her head.

"Thank you for everything," Aria said as she pulled her head back to look at him. She cupped her hand around his cheek and slowly moved her thumb back and forth.

"Always," Ezra smiled before kissing her forehead.

…

An hour later, Aria and Ezra stood at the front desk of the hotel, bags in hand, ready to check out. The walk to Ezra's car was silent neither of them knowing what to say about what they were about to do. An anxious air filled the car as they began driving back towards Rosewood.

At a stoplight Ezra looked over and saw Aria nervously gnawing at her lip. Ezra turned her chin towards him and pulled at the skin releasing her lip from her bright white teeth.

"Aria you're going to bite off your lip," Ezra laughed trying to lighten the mood. He earned a quiet chuckled out of Aria and mentally high fived himself.

Aria brought Ezra's hand to rest on her thigh and placed her hand on top of his as the light turned green and Ezra continued on.

…

"Ella we need to call the police," Byron exhaled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Byron, what would we tell them? We have no idea where she could be and she called to tell us she's ok," Ella argued. She rested her head in her hands and looked up at her husband sitting across from her at their kitchen table.

"Can't they trace where she's been or something?" Byron suggested, his voice rising in volume as his frustration increased.

"I've checked her bank account and no money has been put in our out, so I don't know what else they could track," Ella explained. She got up from the table and poured her and Byron each a cup of coffee.

"So she's with someone?" Byron said. He took the cup from Ella taking a huge sip.

"I guess," Ella responded. Byron sighed and took another sip of coffee closing his eyes.

Suddenly Byron's eyes shot open before he slammed his cup onto the table. He quickly stood up and pushed his chair back his face etched with anger.

"Byron wh-"

"Has Ezra been in school?" he demanded.

"No," Ella cautiously said.

"That's it," Byron practically yelled. He furiously walked over to the phone reaching to pick it up.

"Byron," Ella exclaimed reaching for his hand that was now holding the phone. "Aria would never forgive us, so we'd lose her anyways."

"You don't want to see this joke of a man punished for what he did?" Byron asked incredulously.

"Of course I do," Ella said. "But before we pick up our torches and pitchforks we need to take a moment and figure this out."

…

Aria slowly opened her eyes and realized she had fallen asleep. She looked over at Ezra who was concentrating on the road and watched as he tapped his finger on the driver's wheel. She knew that was one of his nervous habits and immediately understood why he was doing that as she looked out the window. They had arrived in Rosewood and were about five minutes from Ezra's apartment. She sat up straighter and stretched her legs before looking over at Ezra.

"Hey," he murmured as he looked at her quick before returning his eyes to the road.

"Hey," she mumbled back. She ran a hand through her hair attempting to restore some neatness to it as it had gotten all tangled up when she had fallen asleep.

"School doesn't get out for another hour, so I thought we could go back to my place before we go," Ezra explained as he took a turn onto his road.

"Ok," she breathed.

Ezra turned into his complex and parked the car. "I'll be waiting right outside the whole time," he reminded her as he brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. Aria nodded and grasped his hand before pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

"Come on," he smiled as they got out of the car, immediately finding the other's hand once they began walking.

"I'm gonna go talk to the landlord," Ezra said pointing down the hall, "And tell him about me leaving."

"Ok," Aria said. "I'll pack some more stuff." Ezra pulled her to close to him for a quick hug before walking down the hallway.

Aria grabbed the key she always kept in her purse and stepped inside his apartment. She began packing more of Ezra's clothes and some of the books she knew were his favorites. By the time Ezra returned she had packed everything into his various duffel bags and suitcases and the hour was almost up.

"You ready to go," Ezra asked once they had put all of his things in the trunk of his car.

"Yeah," Aria whispered as she climbed into the passenger seat.

The drive to the school consisted of Ezra holding Aria's hand squeezing it every so often while saying words of encouragement. They finally made it to place that held so many memories for them, but could very well destroy everything.

"I'll see you soon," Aria said as she leaned across the console to give Ezra a kiss.

"I'll be here," he replied as he watched her unbuckle her seatbelt and walk to the school.

"Aria," the receptionist smiled as she saw her walk into the school's office. "Haven't seen you for a while."

"Yeah, I've been sick," Aria said. "Is Mrs. Summers here?" she asked.

"Yep, right in her office," she pointed down the hall.

Aria gave the woman a smile before walking down the hallway she pointed and stopping in front of the door labeled _Summers_.

She tentatively knocked and turned the knob when she heard a "Come in" from inside.

"Aria," Mrs. Summers said.

"Hi, um I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," Aria nervously asked.

"Sure, sure," Mrs. Summers waved her hand. "Have a seat."

Aria sat down and folded her hands in her lap remembering Ezra telling her to stay calm.

"I uh was thinking that I wanted to be homeschooled and I was wondering how I would go about doing that."

"Well, I mean first you would need your parents' permission," she began. Aria's heart sunk at this new piece of information. There was no way her parents would agree to her and Ezra living in New York together while she got homeschooled.

"There's no way I could do this without my parent's permission?" Aria asked.

Mrs. Summers shook her head. "The legal age here is 18, so you would need them to sign for you."

Aria sighed and felt tears coming, quickly biting her lip to possibly stop the flow of water.

"Is something going on at home," Mrs. Summers wondered as she reached out to place her hand on Aria's shoulder.

"No," Aria shook her head. "I have to go." Aria stood up not bothering to let Mrs. Summers respond and quickly headed down the halls. She felt the tears building up and a quiet whimper escaped her throat. Everything was falling apart and there was nothing she could do about it. It nearly broke her heart to think about not being able to see Ezra all the time coupled with the fact she would have to face the girls. She figured her only option was to drop out of school, but then what would she do. She still wanted to do something with her life and go to college and eventually get a job.

She swiped away the tears that had escaped and turned a corner only to be stopped in her tracks.

…

"Ok who's idea was it to join yearbook again?" Hannah huffed.

"Yours," Emily and Spencer both simultaneously said.

"You said it would be a good way for us to monitor what pictures of us get put in," Spencer reminded her.

"Well I don't why you guys didn't stop me," Hannah said. "Being in school this long is kind of torture.

Spencer rolled her eyes at Hannah as they walked down the halls of Rosewood high. Yearbook club had just gotten out and they were each headed to their respective cars.

None of them had mentioned Aria since she had disappeared for the reason that none of them knew what to say. They had all trusted her and they had all been betrayed. Even though none of them actually said it they all made a silent agreement to never talk about it again. They were just glad it was all over and they would probably never have to see her again.

"Do you guys hear that?" Emily asked. Spencer and Hannah listened and heard someone softly crying. They all turned the corner to see who it was and gasped when they saw Aria staring back at them.

…

Aria's breath hitched in her throat as she saw Spencer, Hannah, and Emily all staring at her with dumbfounded expressions. Aria turned around prepared to run when she heard Spencer call her name. She ignored it but soon felt Spencer grasp her arm and turn her around.

Aria breathed heavily, and stared at Spencer her arm still trapped in her grip.

"How could you?" Spencer murmured as she shook her head and stared back at Aria.

"Let go of me," Aria whispered as she tried to jerk her arm away.

"Answer me," Spencer countered as she tightened her grip.

Aria swallowed and looked to Hannah who had a blank expression on her face and Emily who had tears running down hers.

"Why would you do this?" Spencer demanded. "How could you?" she practically shrieked.

"You deserved everything you got," Aria yelled back. "You took her from me," she spat, as fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Took who?" Spencer remarked.

"Alison," Aria said.

"This was about revenge?" Spencer asked as she tried to understand what Aria was saying. "You made our lives hell, because we stole Alison from you?"

"What's going on?" Ezra asked as he surveyed the scene in front of him. When Aria hadn't returned for a while he had become nervous and went looking for her.

"And you helped her," Spencer snarled.

Ezra looked to Aria for some explanation of what to do but she was in hysterics and couldn't even look at him.

"I will never forgive you for this," Spencer muttered to Aria. "And based on what you did to us I have to call the police."

**Hope you guys liked this and are excited to see what happens! I'll try to post a new chapter soon!**

** And who's excited for the Halloween episode! I can't wait!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you : sydnayb123, beverlie4055, foreverdream7, YaleAce, Mittenzs, thecandygirl1, Lauren**

"I will never forgive you for this," Spencer muttered to Aria. "And based on what you did to us I have to call the police."

"Spencer," Emily cautioned.

"You want to see her get away with this?" Spencer demanded.

"No," Emily murmured. She looked down at the floor and stared at an imaginary spot.

Aria still trapped in Spencer's tight grip attempted to get her arm free.

"Can you let go of me," Aria snapped. Her face was covered in tears, and while she was trying to look threatening, Ezra could see she was scared beyond belief. Ezra assumed he had the same horrified expression plastered on his face after hearing what Spencer was planning to do.

"You'll run," Spencer explained her grasp becoming the slightest bit tighter.

"Spencer, please," Ezra said as he stepped closer to her and Aria. Aria gave him a pleading look and it literally killed him that there was nothing he could really do to help her.

"Please what?" She scoffed. "Please forgive you for trying to kill us on multiple occasions? Please forget about the hell you put us through?" Spencer's eyes were a shade darker than usual as she practically yelled at Ezra.

Ezra swallowed not sure how to respond to that, before looking to Aria for some guidance. She just gave him a sad look before dipping her head as more tears continued to fall.

Spencer reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, her finger hovering over the 9.

"Spencer, I don't want to have to hurt you, but I might have to if you call them," Ezra stated as he moved slightly closer to her. All he was thinking about was Aria's safety and making sure he kept his promise that everything would be ok.

"What's going on here?" A voice asked behind them. They all turned around to see Detective Wilden and a woman from Alison's case staring at them.

Ezra instinctively stepped away from Spencer, while she released Aria's arm.

"They," Spencer pointed towards Aria and Ezra, "Are responsible for everything that's happened these past two years."

"Another accusation?" Wiliden smirked. "You just can't leave these things to the authorities can't you?"

"This one's right," Spencer said with no hesitation.

"Then I'm going to have to ask you all to come down to the station, parents will be notified on the way there."

The group all followed Wilden and the woman out none of them knowing what to think. Ezra pulled Aria close to him as she buried her face in his side. Her loud sobs were muffled by Ezra's shirt as she clung on to it as if her life depended.

"It'll be ok," he whispered in her hair.

Aria and Ezra slid into Wilden's car, while the girls went with the woman. 10 minutes later they arrived at Rosewood Police Station all of their parents waiting there for them.

"Aria," Ella exclaimed as she saw her get out of the car. She rushed to give her daughter a hug and stiffened when she saw Ezra standing behind her. Aria shrugged out of her mother's hold, thankful her dad was talking to Peter Hasting's and hadn't seen them yet.

"Ok, I'm going to need you all in separate rooms for stories," Wilden explained. Each of the girls, Aria, and Ezra were led to a separate room each with different officer.

"Did you see that Ezra Fitz was here," Ashley Marin said in a hushed voice.

Byron whipped his head to look at her, steam practically coming from his ears.

"I swear if I ever get my hands on him," Byron muttered in Ella's ear. Ella put a hand on his arm encouraging him to calm down.

"For the past year, me Hannah, and Emily have been getting tortured by an anonymous person, who we know now is Aria. And if you remember Hannah getting run over by a car, and Ian being pushed off the bell tower, her and Ezra were responsible for both things," Spencer told Wilden who she had been paired with.

"For about a year now, Emily, Spencer and I have been getting messages from this person named A. We think their responsible for Ian, and maybe even Ali's death," Hannah explained.

"Aria was upset with us because we stole Ali from her as kids, and we know now that she has been this person A all along who has basically been torturing us for almost a year," Emily said.

"Spencer, Emily, and Hannah all think that me and Aria have something to do with Ali's death and everything that has been going on in Rosewood. I don't know why they think that, because Aria and I aren't responsible for any of it," Ezra stated.

"I didn't kill Alison and neither did Ezra. They're all crazy," Aria said. She looked at the woman across the table from her praying she couldn't see through her lies.

The woman nodded and motioned towards the door, telling Aria she could go wait outside now.

Aria hurriedly got up and went to the room outside where the three girls and Ezra were all waiting. She went to sit next to Ezra ignoring the death stare she was getting from Spencer.

Ezra put his arm around Aria thankful the parents were asked to wait outside. He kissed Aria's head before leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes. He could feel Spencer's eyes on them and tried to ignore it while he hoped and prayed everything would be ok.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Wilden stepped in.

"So we reviewed all your statements and it's actually quite interesting," he smiled looking over in Spencer's direction.

"Earlier today, when I was at the school I was actually coming to see if I could talk to you Spencer. A couple of days ago, we finally tracked the car that hit Hannah, and we found out that it was under the name Spencer Hastings," Wilden clarified. He had smirk across his face as he stared down at Spencer.

"What?" She exclaimed. "No," she looked around at Hannah and Emily her eyes finally stopping on Aria and Ezra.

"We're going to need you to stay for more questioning especially because of the accusations you made today. Hannah and Emily you'll need to stay too, but Aria and Ezra you're free to go.

Aria stared up incredulously at Ezra as the other three girls were escorted out of the room.

Ezra grinned down at her and curled a piece of hair away from her ear.

"You know A never leaves a trail," he whispered in her ear. Aria smiled up at him having completely forgotten she had used Spencer's name when she had gotten that car.

Aria grasped Ezra's face planting a kiss on his lips. She could feel Ezra grin under her lips as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. She tangled her fingers into his hair and kissed him hard before pulling back to look at him.

"We got away with it," she murmured. Ezra smiled and brushed his fingers across her cheek.

"I love you," he said.

Aria gave him another peck on the lips before the door burst open and she heard her father's labored breathing.

**Sorry it's so short! But do you guys have any ideas of what you want to happen? Do you want them to still leave town or stay in Rosewood with the girls? Please review and tell me!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you: sydnayb123, YaleAce, beverlie4055, THUNDER BRAT, florencebisson, Nabrenda12, CheyeM1287, h ,Nameless Secret Keeper, thecandygirl1, Wondergirl, Pll obsessed, Lauren, OnlyTheYoung, lexie51 **

**Some of you guys thought Aria's reason for being A wasn't good enough, and I'd agree for the average person, but to be A you have to be at least a little being crazy/overreact haha. So that's why that's the reason.**

**Also, I'm going to be posting a new story after I update this called Nobody said it was easy, so you should all check it out if you want! It's going to be Ezria as well!**

**I will continue to write this story too, so no worries :)**

Aria gave him another peck on the lips before the door burst open and she heard her father's labored breathing.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Byron practically screeched. His pointer finger jutted towards Ezra and his face was twisted up in anger.

"Dad!" Aria exclaimed immediately detaching herself from Ezra. She stood in front of Ezra as he too stood up as Byron took a step closer.

"I don't know what part about leave this family alone you didn't understand, but if you don't step away from my daughter right now, I swear I'll kill you," Byron slowly said, enunciating each word.

"No," Aria countered as she backed further into Ezra. She saw Byron widen his eyes at her defiance the vein in his neck beginning to show itself.

"Aria, go wait outside right now," Byron ordered.

"No," Aria repeated this time more strongly. "I'm not leaving Ezra."

"Aria," Byron yelled. "I don't know if you are aware but we are in a police station and don't test me because I will turn him in."

Aria heard Ezra nervously swallow behind her and felt his whole body tense up. She grabbed one of Ezra's hands and saw her father's gaze instantly zone in on it.

"Ezra's not my teacher anymore," Aria explained. "We're perfectly legal."

"What do you mean he's not your teacher anymore?" Byron demanded.

"I quit a couple of days ago sir," Ezra said.

The door to the room opened and all eyes looked to it as Ella walked in.

"What is going on in here?" Ella asked. She surveyed the scene and saw Byron glaring at Aria who was protecting Ezra.

"Mom, Ezra's not my teacher anymore and whether you two chose to believe us or not were in love," Aria told her. "I'm not leaving him again."

"Aria, he _was_ your teacher and that's still very much illegal," Byron reminded her. He looked to Ella for support, but she was just looking down at the floor.

"It's not illegal if there's no proof," Aria stated. She stared down at Byron who was now physically fuming.

"I don't even know who you are anymore," Byron said incredulously.

"Mom?" Aria pleaded as she looked over at Ella.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this, but it's still not right," Ella said. Aria felt her confidence slowly slipping at her mother's confession. She thought at least she would be on her side.

"I thought you would at least…" Aria murmured.

"At least what?" Ella asked her voice rising. "Give my teenage daughter and Mr. Fitz my blessing?"

"We're going," Byron ordered. Him and Ella turned to go expecting Aria to follow surprised when she continued to stand next to Ezra.

"Aria I will drag you out of here if I have to," Byron informed her.

"Aria," Ezra whispered. He gave her a look that said she should go and that they would talk later. Aria reluctantly stepped forward and followed her parents out a few stray tears escaping her eyes.

The drive back home was deathly silent no one daring to say anything. Once they arrived, Aria hurriedly jumped out of the car and practically raced to the stairs.

"Aria," Byron called out once she had made it half way up.

Aria turned around and looked down at the floor, not wanting her parents to see her falling apart.

"You know you're grounded for a long time right?"

Aria nodded and trudged up the rest of the stairs to her room and locked her door. She fell onto her bed and heard her phone ping and smiled when she realized her parents had forgotten to take it away.

She unlocked the screen and saw a new message from E.F. and quickly read it.

_E.F.: We really need to talk…_

_Aria: I know._

Aria felt a couple more tears fall down her face at the tone of the messages as she awaited Ezra's response.

_E.F.: I don't have a job right now_

_Aria: What are you saying?_

_E.F.: In New York I do._

A sob ripped through Aria's throat as she realized what Ezra was saying and she literally felt her heart breaking in two.

_E.F.: Aria, believe me I am so sorry. I just don't know what else to do. _

_E.F.: Aria?_

Aria wasn't sure if she could even respond to Ezra as she continued to stare at the screen. She didn't know what to say.

_E.F.: Aria, baby please answer me...please_

_Aria: So is this goodbye?_

Ezra read Aria's last text and his task of trying to hold it together became ten times harder. He swallowed thickly, his eyes pricking with unshed tears. Was this a goodbye?

_E.F.: It's not a goodbye. It's a see you later. When you're 18 we can be together no matter what._

At this point Ezra was more trying to convince himself everything would be ok than Aria.

_Aria: That's almost two years away…_

_E.F.: I would wait for you, even if it was 50 years away_

Aria smiled through her tears at Ezra. Even in the most emotional times he could be so romantic.

_Aria: When do you leave?_

_E.F.: I don't have an apartment anymore and I'm sitting in my car so I was thinking I should go now._

Aria felt like her whole body was breaking into a million little pieces as she read that last line. She wouldn't even get to see him one last time.

_Aria: We won't even get to be together one last time._

_E.F.: I know._

Ezra let the tears he was holding in freely flow now as he rested his head against the steering wheel of his car.

_Aria: Well, I guess this is it…Just know I'll always love you._

_E.F.: I love you too Aria. Forever_

Aria leaned her head against her headboard, everything on her face throbbing from all the crying she had done. She wiped away the tears across her face before walking to her closet. She rummaged through her clothes until she came to a big red Hollis Sweatshirt in the back. She took off the shirt she was wearing now and quickly replaced it with the one she had just grabbed. It still smelled like Ezra's laundry detergent mixed with his body wash and something that could only be described as "Ezra." It was one of the most comforting scents in the world and she continued to breathe it in.

She climbed into her bed and wrapped the covers around her as she clutched Ezra's sweatshirt closer.

Ezra put his cellphone in the cup holder in the middle console before he leaned back against the leather seating. He wiped away at the tears across his face and reached for the button to open the trunk. He opened the trunk cover and grabbed one of the duffel bags. He reached in and pulled out one of Aria's shirts that she had left in his apartment and then packed away. He grasped it tightly in his hand as he walked back to the driver's seat. It still smelled like the coconut and vanilla perfume Aria used as well as something that just smelled like her. He held it close as he started his car and began driving off.

**Sorry for the sad chapter, but I would never break them up permanently. Next chapters are going to have some A drama as well as Ezria drama. **

**Please review and check out my other story! I'll update soon! **


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